


Mistborn

by Dreamshaper



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Also fighting, Angst, F/F, Fantasy, Mistborn AU, and fluff, and magic, and medieval times, and of course holtzbert, yay!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2019-11-29 11:21:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 35
Words: 52,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18222470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: In a world where some are born with magic, Holtzmann, Abby and Patty make their living as thieves, stealing from rich nobles. One of their plans leads to a new addition to their little group, and Holtzmann will have to help Erin figure out her own magic and how to use it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been very inspired by Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, books I highly recommend, but which not should be necessarily read to understand this fic :) Enjoy! :D

“Why do I have to be the skaa again?” Holtzmann asked as she tugged at the not all too comfortable, scratchy clothing; Patty gave her a strict look, looking much better in her noblewoman’s garb, and Abby held back a snicker, dressed as well as the tallest member of the trio, making Holtzmann the odd one out.

“Because nobody will look twice at you if you’re the skaa”, Patty told her, in a tone which showed this wasn’t the first time they were having this argument, “and that’s a good thing, as you know.”

“As I know”, Holtzmann sighed, tugging at the scratchy tunic again; even for a pretend skaa, she was just a bit too clean, but she had successfully refused rolling around in the mud to get dirtier, arguing that a servant for two noblewomen as Abby and Patty were pretending to be didn’t need to be as dirty as the field workers they were passing in their carriage in this very moment.

Said field workers barely looked up at them, the sight of a carriage rolling past nothing new or unusual, even at such somewhat remote holds as the one of Lord Hudson; still Holtzmann acted the way she was supposed to, keeping her gaze down, not wanting to appear in any way odd, all too aware that unseen eyes might be on them.

They had been working on this scam for months, the three of them, and she didn’t want to be the one to risk it all by acting in a way a skaa shouldn’t.

It was difficult for her though, acting like the perfect servant; she fought the urge to fidget and to look around, almost breathing a sigh of relief when the carriage reached the large mansion, reminding herself to act like a proper skaa when the doors were pulled open and two of the lord’s guards peered inside.

Almost without thinking, Holtzmann flared bronze, just to be on the safe side; she detected nothing from the guards, which was a good sign, and they barely gave her a second glance as they greeted Abby and Patty, then waved the carriage on, the man they had hired as driver clucking his tongue to get the horses moving again.

“First hurdle taken”, Abby whispered as the carriage rolled through the gate and into the mansion’s yard; it was big enough to almost be a castle, Holtzmann observed as she hopped out, then held her hand out to first Patty, then Abby, the perfect servant who made sure her masters wouldn’t fall.

“Welcome to Lord Hudson’s keep”, one of the guards greeted the two apparent noblewomen, “your servant can wait in the kitchen with our skaa, Lord Hudson is expecting you.”

“Lead the way”, Patty replied, in an indifferent tone, just the right one for speaking to guards; they weren’t skaa, Holtzmann could tell, but they weren’t of noble birth, either, and so, a noblewoman like Patty and Abby pretended to be had no reason to be friendly or even just polite to them.

One of the guards did just that, leading the way for Abby and Patty, while another one took Holtzmann to the kitchen; from the corner of her eye, she glanced around as she walked along behind the man, memorizing the way, just in case she’d have to get out fast.

The guard showed her a corner in the kitchen where she could wait, then left without as much as a glance at the workers there; and they ignored her, too, something Holtzmann was quite glad about, not wanting any of them to pay much attention to her.

And they didn’t, too busy with their tasks, putting the finishing touches on the meal they had prepared for the lord and his noble guests; Holtzmann wondered if a true servant would have offered their help, then shrugged it off, making herself invisible instead, passing the time by working on their emotions, making them focus more on their work and less on the unknown servant sitting in the corner.

They bustled to and fro, getting the food ready, then beginning to carry it from the kitchen to the dining hall; and while a few were busy with that, others already started on dessert and on cleaning up the mess from making the starters and the main course, Holtzmann waiting until she could be sure that no one even remembered she was there before she slipped out.

Burning tin, she enhanced her senses, so she’d be able to hear anyone long before they’d be close enough to be a real danger and hide; apparently, Lord Hudson didn’t invest much in guards though, she thought to herself as she moved through the quiet hallways, from the working areas to the parts of the mansion where the nobleman and his closer servants lived, only hearing one guard on the way, a middle-aged man whom she could avoid easily by ducking into an empty storage room.

It didn’t take her long to find the lord’s living quarters and his study, the three of them having studied the mansion’s layout before they had made their move; while Patty had spent time building up her fake name and reputation as the noblewoman Lucille Gardieu, and had contacted him with the prospect of a very lucrative business, Holtzmann and Abby had spoken to the right people, and Holtzmann had made use of her skill to scout the mansion at night, by now knowing it probably better than the lord himself, what with how he hardly ever showed his face in the part of the building where the servants slept and worked.

Before entering the lord’s bedroom, Holtzmann listened at the door, making sure nobody was in there, another guard perhaps or a servant; the room was perfectly quiet, and once she was convinced it was empty, she pushed the door open as quietly as possible and slipped inside, glancing around once more before she swiftly walked through the bedroom and into the man’s study.

A brief flare of iron showed her where the safe was hidden, and she smirked to herself – a nobleman truly should know better than to use a safe made of metal, but then, he barely had any guards, either, and his house wasn’t that big and powerful, so he apparently had felt as if he had nothing to worry about, out there in the countryside.

As quietly as possible, Holtzmann followed the blue lines her skills let her see, removing the floorboards they guided her to; right beneath them, the safe was, as she had known it would be, and she frowned as she burned iron, pulling on the tiny mechanism which made up the lock.

This was something not many could do, she knew, not even those with her set of skills; it took practice and patience, but she was good at it, and it didn’t take long until she heard a soft click, a satisfied smile curling her lips as she opened the safe and saw the coins and jewels within.

Quickly, but as quietly as she could, Holtzmann began to fill the hidden pockets in her clothing; if she hadn’t lost track of time, Abby and Patty should be having the main course with the man by now, and so, she still had a bit of time left, working as fast as she dared as she emptied the safe.

Finally, the last coin vanished into her pocket, and she smirked to herself as she closed the safe again and locked it; as she straightened up and turned though, her smile froze as the new angle she was now viewing the bedroom from now revealed something she hadn’t noticed when she had walked through it the first time.

Dangling from the right side of the lord’s large bed were heavy iron cuffs, and Holtzmann felt sick as she knew what they were for – and right in this moment, she threw the plan over board, knowing she couldn’t just leave with this new knowledge, knowing she had to stop him before he could cause more pain in this room than he certainly had in the past.


	2. Chapter 2

“What do you mean, you’re going back”, Patty hissed as Holtzmann unpacked the money and jewels she had stolen from the lord, piling them into the carriage’s hidden compartment under the watchful eyes of Abby, Patty and their impressed driver, “why? You left something behind?”

“No”, Holtzmann gave back, pulling off her servant clothing as she spoke and prompting the carriage driver to flush and look away, “but he’s one of those who… makes use of his skaa women. At night. And I want to make sure he won’t do that tonight.”

She told them what she had seen in the man’s bedroom, and both women grimaced at her explanation; and neither of them tried to talk her out of it, just watching how she changed into black clothing, then threw on a grey cloak, a combination which would make her practically invisible once it would’ve gotten dark.

“How do you even know he will do it tonight”, Abby asked what they both were thinking, “what are you gonna do if he won’t? We need to go back to the city, you can’t watch him every night until he… you know.”

“Oh, he will”, Holtzmann gave back, finding her pouch of small coins in another hidden compartment within the carriage and tugging it into one of her many pockets, “after such a good business deal as you two presented him? He’ll want to celebrate. Men like him always do.”

“Well, yeah”, Abby had to admit, making Patty grimace, “but… no offense Holtz, but since when do you care? Usually it’s in, get the stuff, out, and we leave. Why is this different?”

“It just is”, Holtzmann replied, her tone showing that she wouldn’t discuss this any further, “you guys get moving with the carriage, as we planned. I’ll catch up when I took care of… this.”

“…fine”, Patty sighed, knowing that arguing would lead nowhere at this point, having seen this look from Holtzmann before, “but take care. Don’t get caught! You know what will happen if you mess this up!”

“Yeah, yeah”, Holtzmann gave back, not sounding all too worried though, “I know. Now get moving, I’ll see you guys later.”

The two women nodded, then climbed back into the carriage; the driver gave her a concerned look, didn’t say anything though, clucking his tongue instead to get the horses moving.

Holtzmann watched the carriage slowly drive off, having a few minutes during which she could wonder if she was making a mistake, if she’d end up caught and in jail or worse; then, she thought back to the cuffs she had seen, and shrugged her worries off, turning and finding a place where she could wait for darkness to fall fully, knowing that she’d have the best chance then – and hoping that she wouldn’t be too late.

* * *

Even though it was a situation which could end her in big trouble, Holtzmann moved through the night with a sense of enjoyment once it had gotten dark enough; she tossed coins to the ground and Pushed against them, moving with wide jumps this way, faster and quieter than any regular human could have, at the same time burning tin to be aware of anything which might signal that she had been spotted.

If Lord Hudson had any guards patrolling at night though, they didn’t see her, her black clothing and the cloak helping to hide her in the darkness and the mists; and so, she could easily Pull herself up onto the mansion’s roof once she was close enough, using a weathervane on the roof for that, perching on it like some sort of gargoyle, her breathing unnaturally loud in her own ears as she listened.

She started to wonder if she had been wrong, if the lord wouldn’t celebrate his good business deal the despicable way some noblemen did… and just when she asked herself if she should go, try to catch up with the carriage, she heard the woman scream, panicked and full of fear.

Without hesitation, Holtzmann Pushed from the weathervane and sailed over the roof, cloak flapping behind her; burning iron showed her other sources of metal, and she used those to move fast, approaching the window leading to the lord’s bedroom faster than she could have running, and with less sound, too.

She landed just outside the window, ready to burst in and stop the lord… when she heard him scream, too, his scream turning into an odd gurgle, her tin-enhanced ears picking up rushing footsteps afterwards, approaching the bedroom.

Not missing a beat, Holtzmann figured she could figure out later what had happened, and kicked the window open, glass shattering; one look was enough to let her take it all in, the lord on the floor in a puddle of blood, the wide-eyed woman on the bed – not chained, Holtzmann noted, whatever she had done, she’d done it before he had managed to get the cuffs on her – and the guards which now stormed the room, three of them, responding to the cry of their lord.

And only to his, Holtzmann noted, her blood boiling, they hadn’t moved a finger when the woman had been screaming.

They all stopped dead when they the lord dead on the floor and Holtzmann crouching in the window frame; and just when they seemed to realize that something potentially very bad for them was going on, Holtzmann Pushed against the armour of the one nearest to her, sending him flying back and against his comrades, all three of them tumbling to the floor.

Using the metal of their armour, Holtzmann Pushed them further, until they hit the wall; it didn’t knock them out, not quite, but it dazed them, and gave her the time she needed.

One quick leap brought her closer to the bed, the woman staring at her with fear and confusion; burning brass, she Soothed the woman’s fear without thinking about it much, realizing that for now, she had no time to explain.

“I’m here to help”, she said, keeping up the Soothing to make the woman more likely to believe her, and not fight her, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Burning pewter, she strengthened herself, so she could pick the woman up on her arms with ease; the woman’s gaze remained focused on the lifeless body of Lord Hudson, and she only looked away when Holtzmann turned towards the window, leaping outside just as the guards started to come around behind them.

Realizing that a small blonde woman was carrying her with strength which seemed unlikely for her size and build, the woman clung to her, her fear flaring up again; Holtzmann took another moment to Soothe her, then rushed to the edge of the roof and jumped, the last thing the guards peering out the window seeing of her being the hem of her cloak, fluttering over the edge.


	3. Chapter 3

It took quite a bit for the woman to recover enough from her shock to fully realize what was happening – that a blonde woman was jumping impossibly high and wide while holding in her arms, without even breathing heavier – and to react to it; Holtzmann felt her tense up in her arms, but before she could try Soothing her again, the woman was crying out at her to stop, to put her down, and she hurriedly did so, landing gracefully on the ground, glad that they had put a decent chunk of distance between the mansion and themselves.

“It’s okay, it’s okay”, she said as she put the woman down, the way she hectically looked around showing Holtzmann that she wasn’t quite getting through to her though, “I won’t hurt you. And neither will he, it’s alright.”

“What did I do, Lord Ruler, what did I do”, the woman fretted in response, running shaking hands through her tangled hair, “I killed him and I don’t even know…”

She turned away from Holtzmann and noisily threw up, the blonde grimacing at the sound and the sight; and then, the woman seemed to realize belatedly that she was standing outside, at night, in the mist, eyes going wide again as she twirled to look at Holtzmann once more.

“We’re out!” she cried, looking so frightened now that it made Holtzmann’s heart clench up, “in the mist! We’re going to die, the mistwraiths are going to get us, why did you take me here, is this to punish me for what I did? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

“Hey, hey, hey”, Holtzmann tried to get in a word, raising her hands in a hopefully placating gesture, “nobody’s going to punish you for anything, alright? And nobody is going to get us, especially not mistwraiths. It’s alright!”

The woman stared at her for a few moments in reply, as if she needed longer than usual to process what the blonde had said – before she, to Holtzmann’s shock, burst into tears, crying so violently that her whole body was trembling.

The outburst was so sudden and so bad that Holtzmann realized her Soothing skills wouldn’t lead anywhere; she stood and stared for a few moments as the woman cried, then took a slow step closer to her, hoping she wouldn’t make things worse.

“Hey”, she said, keeping her hands up to show she was no threat, “it’s alright, it really is. No one’s going to hurt you, alright? Please, calm down?”

The woman kept crying in response, but her sobs decreased a bit; she still was highly upset though, wringing her hands as she glanced left and right, as if she expect something to jump out from the mists and right at them any moment.

“It’s alright”, Holtzmann said again, “we’re perfectly safe here, I promise. And there won’t be any punishment for what happened, he deserved that and more for what he wanted to do to you.”

“Maybe he did it”, the woman gave back, sounding thoughtful now while Holtzmann could only gape at her, “and this is a sort of fantasy my mind created to distract me from him. Or maybe he killed me already and this is the afterlife…”

“You’re not dead, and this is not a hallucination”, Holtzmann told her, earning a doubtful look “I’m very real and not a figment of your imagination or some part of some weird afterlife. Alright? My name’s Holtzmann, what’s yours?”

The question clearly had caught the woman off-guard, and surprised her enough to tear her out of her fears and worries; she looked around again, then ran one hand through her hair, voice trembling, but less filled with fear when she answered the blonde’s question.

“Um, Erin”, she told her, fidgeting, “well, without the um. Just Erin.”

“Alright, Erin”, Holtzmann said, giving her a hopefully calming smile, “glad we cleared that up, nice to meet you. I wish we could have met under different circumstances, but now, we gotta make the best of it, alright?”

“How”, Erin gave back, wringing her hands as the fear and panic came back, “I killed the lord! If they catch me, they’ll throw me into the Pits, what have I done…”

“No one will catch you”, Holtzmann reassured her, her mind racing at the same time as she thought about what she had seen of the dead lord; she hadn’t been able to get a good look at him, what with the guards and how hectic the situation had been in general, but she remembered the bit she had seen, enough to remember how he had been killed.

It had looked as if his belt buckle had been slammed into his body, and there was only one way this could have been done.

“I’ll take you with me, alright”, she said out loud, figuring that bringing up how Erin exactly had done this was not a good idea, not in the middle of the night and out in the countryside, “to the hideout of my crew. You’ll be safe there, and we can figure out what to do next. You want to walk, or want to travel in style?”

“Um”, Erin let out, clearly not sure what to respond; and so, Holtzmann made the decision, not quite feeling like walking, the redhead letting out a little squeal when Holtzmann picked her up on her arms again, not trying to struggle out of her hold though, but putting both arms around the blonde, looking a bit nervous as she knew what would come next.

“Don’t worry”, Holtzmann told her, burning pewter making it easy for her to carry Erin, “this is perfectly safe. I won’t drop you.”

“Uh-huh”, Erin let out, still holding on a bit tighter to her than she would have deemed it necessary; and when she found a source of metal nearby and Pushed against it to catapult herself into the air, Erin’s grip on her tightened even more, but to her credit, she didn’t cry out or to break free, just squeezing her eyes shut against the wind as Holtzmann travelled with her, unable to stop asking herself what she had gotten herself into and how her life would be from now on.

* * *

“Alright”, Holtzmann said quite a while later, landing on a roughly made street gently enough to make sure Erin wouldn’t be shaken through, “we’re almost at the city. I just have to find a spot at the wall where no guards will see us.”

Not sure if the blonde expected a response, Erin just nodded, wondering how exactly Holtzmann was finding out where the guards were; she had heard of the magic some people could use, tales whispered around the nightly fires by the elder skaa, but she never had seen it in action, hadn’t even been sure it was real until she had witnessed it firsthand from the strange blonde woman.

“Over there”, Holtzmann distracted her from these thoughts, surprising her by moving along the high wall which surrounded and apparently protected the city with quite the ease, even though she still carried her; Erin knew that she was thin, compared to the noblewomen she had seen visiting Lord Hudson’s mansion, but still it was strange that the blonde woman could carry her so easily, and she wondered if this was another effect of the magic Holtzmann apparently could use.

“Hold on tight”, Holtzmann said, making her nod again – and then, using some unseen force, Holtzmann pushed off the ground and sailed up, Erin biting her tongue to keep herself from crying out at the sudden, unexpected speed, not wanting to alert any guards who possibly  might be nearby, but still letting out a heavy breath when Holtzmann landed on top of the wall with her.

“One more”, the blonde told her, and Erin squeezed her eyes shut when she jumped down from the wall; they fell slower than she would have expected though, as if something was softening their fall, Holtzmann’s feet barely making a noise when she landed on the cobblestones of the path close to the wall.

“There we go”, Holtzmann said with a smile, carefully lowering Erin to the ground; and for a little while, Erin forgot all about her fears and worries as she looked around, stunned by the sheer size of the city, even though she knew she could only see a small part of it right now.

It was the first time she was at the city, she only had heard talk about it every now and then, and that hadn’t been much, just some words she had picked up when guards had walked past the fields and had been chatting; she had imagined the city to be like their little skaa hovels near the fields, just bigger, and never would have expected all these buildings, made with stone and wood, looking much more stable than the hovels she’d grown up in.

“Lord Ruler”, she whispered, stunned, not daring to speak out loud; Holtzmann smirked at her reaction, not in a mean way though, she thought, then asked her to follow her, and Erin had to tear her eyes away from the wonders around, nodding hesitatingly as she remembered what the blonde had said, about how she would take her to some sort of hideout.

She wasn’t quite sure she wanted to go there, not sure what to expect; she also knew though that she couldn’t wander off in this big city, not on her own, and so, she followed Holtzmann without a word of protest of question, looking around the whole time, all her fears and worries for the moment forgotten.


	4. Chapter 4

It took them quite a bit to reach the hideout Holtzmann had been talking about, Erin feeling tired and drained by the time they made it there, the night’s events taking their toll on her; when the guards had come to the hovel she shared with a dozen others and had grabbed her, she had been sure that this was it, that the lord would have his fun with her for a night or two and then kill her, as he had done before with other skaa women, and now, here she was instead, after having done the Lord Ruler knew what to the lord and this weird blonde woman had shown up out of nowhere to rescue her.

She wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Holtzmann led her to a large, wooden building; the blonde gave her a wink, then knocked on the door in a certain rhythm, and it opened a moment later, a woman who looked a lot like a noblewoman peering outside, Erin almost automatically taking a step back when the woman saw her and her eyes widened.

“Holtz”, the woman then hissed, gesturing vaguely at Erin, who grew nervous again, “who is this? What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain in a minute”, Holtzmann gave back, glancing around even though her tin-enhanced ears didn’t pick up any footsteps nearby, “let us enter for now? I don’t feel good standing around here like this, you know.”

The woman let out a long-suffering sigh and stepped aside, waving them in; Erin kept her gaze fixed to the floor as she entered the building, the way she had all her life when a nobleman or –woman had been nearby, only looking up when Holtzmann said her name.

“No need to act like that”, she told the redhead, smirking, “Abby just looks like a noblewoman, but she’s a thief just like me. You don’t have to be all respectful around her.”

“Excuse me”, the woman replied, frowning, “don’t give her any ideas, she might get as cocky as you. Your name is Erin, then? I’m Abby.”

“Um, yes”, Erin gave back, “Erin. That’s my name. You’re thieves?”

“Damn straight we are”, Holtzmann told her, Abby rolling her eyes at the proud grin on Holtzmann’s face, “why do you think we were at Hudson’s mansion in the first place? While he had dinner with Abby and another lovely friend here, I cleared out his safe.”

Erin gaped at her, Holtzmann’s grin widening at the gobsmacked look on the other woman’s face; muttering something under breath about showing off, Abby moved to Erin’s side, then gave her a calming smile, easily able to tell that the poor woman was close to freaking out – and no surprise there, she sourly thought to herself, after what the lord had been planning to do to her, and after how Holtzmann probably had rescued her with a lot of drama and bravado, just because she could.

“Come with me”, she said, earning an insecure look from Erin, “you can get clean, I’ll find you some fresh clothes, then you can eat something and get some sleep, you must be tired. Meanwhile, Holtzmann, you can explain to Patty why you ran off with one of Hudson’s skaa and maybe tell her your great plan for when he starts searching for her.”

“No need for any plans”, Holtzmann replied with a shrug, “Hudson’s dead. So technically she’s not his skaa anymore, either.”

Abby gaped at her again, then just sighed and shook her head; deciding that she didn’t want to deal with this for now, she asked Erin to come with her instead, and while she led the redhead deeper into the warehouse the crew used as hideout, Holtzmann went to find Patty, knowing she had to speak about what she had seen at last, and figure out if Erin was more than she currently was aware of.

* * *

“Helloooo Patty”, Holtzmann said with an innocent smile as she entered what Patty called her study, where the taller woman was sitting at her desk, counting the coins they had stolen from Lord Hudson and sorting the jewels according to their estimated worth; at her tone and the was she beamed at her, Patty immediately got suspicious, but finished counting and sorting the small pile of coins in front of her before she gave Holtzmann her full attention, ignoring the remaining, bigger pile of money for now.

“What did you do this time”, she demanded to know, sighing, “please tell me you didn’t show off to the lord.”

“Ummm, no”, Holtzmann replied, grabbing a gold coin and beginning to toy with it, “I didn’t have to. He’s dead. But! I didn’t kill him.”

Patty just gave her a flat look, then crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow; Holtzmann sighed in response, putting the coin back, and shrugged, throwing her feet up onto the table and putting her hands behind her behind her head, getting comfortable in her seat before she elaborated.

“He was already dead by the time I got to the bedroom”, she explained, frowning a bit as well as she thought back to the scene, tried to remember as much as possible, “and I’m pretty sure Erin did it. She might not be aware of it right now, but she has some allomantic power, I didn’t get to take a close look, but… she pushed his belt buckle into his belly and killed him, I’m pretty sure that’s how it happened.”

“Who’s Erin”, Patty replied, Holtzmann annoyed at herself for not having told her this as the first thing; she quickly explained that Erin was a skaa from Hudson’s fields, the girl he had chosen for his nightly fun, Patty frowning as well when Holtzmann had finished talking.

“And she killed him”, she repeated, making the blonde nod, “by pushing his belt buckle into his belly. You think she’s a Misting, don’t you.”

“Or maybe even Mistborn”, Holtzmann gave back, Patty raising an eyebrow, “that is one of the reasons why I took her here. And, well, I didn’t kill the guards, so leaving her there wasn’t an option anyway, you know they would have punished her for killing their lord.”

“Well, up to you to find out”, Patty told her, “and you’re right, you couldn’t have left her behind after that. Let’s just hope this won’t bite us in the ass at some point.”

“Nah, it won’t”, Holtzmann replied confidently, Patty holding back a comment about how Holtzmann’s young age might make her a bit too trusting and too fast with giving that trust to someone, “she’ll need a bit to settle in, Abby’s taking care of her right now, but if she does have a power, or more than one, well… We can always use extra allomancers on the team.”

“Yes”, Patty had to agree, “if she wants to stay. Now, while Abby takes care of her, help me count the rest of this money, and don’t play with the coins, you’ll get the smaller ones when we’re done.”

Holtzmann nodded, even though counting money was one of the most boring things she could imagine – acquiring the money was much more exciting, after all, and usually, she left the counting to Patty, but she figured it would pass the time, and didn’t want to risk Patty’s ire by declining.

So, she sat up straight, and moved a pile of coins in front of herself; and for a while, the only noise in the room was the soft clinking of the coins as they both counted, Holtzmann trying hard to focus, even though her thoughts strayed to Erin again and again, unable to stop wondering how the redhead was doing in this very moment.

 


	5. Chapter 5

While Patty and Holtzmann were counting money, Erin was taking a bath, the first warm bath of her life; it was amazing, she thought to herself as she sat in the pleasantly warm water and scrubbed ash and dirt off her arms and legs, how good it felt, compared to the rough cleaning they had done at the fields, not quite sure if she ever had been so clean before.

The water certainly showed how dirty exactly she had been, a murky brown by the time she got done and started to rise; and just then, Abby came into the room, and Erin quickly sank back into the water, eying the other woman with a bit of trepidation, not quite sure what to expect.

“I figured you might need help washing your back”, Abby said, as if she did this every day, offering help to a woman she hadn’t even known for two hours with getting clean, “and with your hair? Oh and I brought clothing.”

She held up the bundle she was carrying, then put it on a nearby chair before she sat on the edge of the wooden tub; Erin went stiff when she felt the woman actually start washing her back, didn’t dare protest though, all too aware that talking back in any way had never been taken well by the overseers and the nobles.

It didn’t take long until she relaxed though, Abby surprising her with how gentle and careful she was; and it was the same when the woman washed her hair, clucking her tongue at the numerous tangles, warning the redhead that brushing them out would take quite a while and might be painful.

Erin just shrugged, not really having bothered with her hair so far in her life, except for when she had used string to tie it back so it wouldn’t fall into her face during work in the fields; thanks to Abby’s position, she couldn’t see how Abby’s face darkened as she got a good look at Erin’s back, and how she shook her head to herself, once more appalled at how the lords and overseers treated the skaa working on their fields.

“There”, she said, finishing with Erin’s hair, “I’ll go get a brush, get dressed in the meantime?”

“Yes”, Erin gave back, figuring that this needed some kind of response; Abby smiled at her even though she couldn’t see it, then got up and left the room, and once the door had closed behind her, Erin got out of the tub and pulled on the clothing Abby had brought for her, marvelling at how clean and soft it was, the simple shirt and pants fitting her quite well, too, feeling better on her skin than anything she had worn before.

Impressed, she ran one hand over the sleeve, then looked at her clean skin; there still was some dirt beneath her fingernails, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so clean – before the guards had taken her to the lord’s bedroom a few hours ago, they only had splashed some water at her to get off the worst of the dirt, and hadn’t really cared if she was clean or not – and it felt good, the cleanliness and the fresh, soft clothes making her feel as if she was dreaming a wonderful dream.

The door opening again distracted her from these thoughts, and she turned to see Abby come in with a brush – and a tray, a meal of bread, dried meat and cheese on it, Erin’s mouth watering at the sight.

“Sorry it’s not much”, Abby apologized as she put the tray down onto the nearby table, “we didn’t expect Holtz to bring a guest along. Do you want water, wine or milk with that?”

“Um, water is fine”, Erin gave back, not quite sure how she would react to wine, never having had alcohol before, “thank you, this is very kind of you…”

“Don’t mention it”, Abby told her with a smile, moving over to stand behind her again; she brushed her hair as quickly as it was possible, and while she did so, Erin kept staring at the food – the lord had made sure that none of them starved, needing them to work on his fields after all, but they had been fed with dry bread and some sort of thin, almost tasteless soup, just enough to keep them going day after day.

“There”, Abby said, finishing the work on her hair, “all done. Now dig in, I’ll go see how Holtz and Patty are doing, and then I’ll ready your room for the night.”

“Thank you”, Erin gave back, not quite sure how to handle all this kindness – and wondering if the women had some kind of hidden motive which made them be so kind to her; realizing though that there was nothing she could do if they did, she decided to just make the most of this brief good time she’d have here, and sat down to eat.

Even though her stomach practically roared at the sight of the food, she didn’t allow herself to wolf it down, but ate slowly, savouring each bite, not sure when she would get a meal as amazing as this one again; she took her time eating it all up, licking her lips once the last bite was gone, and letting out a small content sigh, fighting the urge to lick the tray, figuring that even for a skaa, this wouldn’t be appropriate.

And she was glad that she hadn’t done it, because just then, Abby returned, bringing a jug of cold water; after all the amazing food, Erin felt so full that she wasn’t sure she would actually be able to drink any of it, but she still made herself empty a cup, not wanting to appear ungrateful for all this kindness.

“Enough food?” Abby asked once Erin had put the cup down again, “there’s more if you want?”

“Thank you, I’m full”, Erin politely replied, having to make a conscious effort to not look at the floor again and to keep her eyes focused on the other woman’s face; Abby smiled at her and nodded, then let her know that she could get some sleep now then if she wanted, Erin nodding as well, feeling exhausted now that she had bathed, eaten and the day’s excitement was over.

“We didn’t expect a guest tonight”, Abby told her as she left the room, Erin trailing along behind her, “so there’s no extra room ready, I’m sorry. But we put a mattress in Holtzy’s room, that’s alright with you?”

“Um, yes, thank you”, Erin gave back, a bit surprised at the mattress – in the skaa hovel back at the mansion, they all simply had slept on the floor, and when Abby led her into the room, she was amazed to see that there wasn’t just a mattress, but a blanket and a pillow, too.

“Holtzmann’s still with Patty”, Abby let her know as she put the jug of water and the cup on the little table next to the bed which Erin presumed was Holtzmann’s, “I’ll tell her you’re sleeping in here so she won’t be noisy when she goes to bed, alright? Is there anything else you need?”

Erin shook her head, and Abby gave her another smile before she wished her a good night; she gently closed the door behind herself, and Erin laid down, amazed at how soft the mattress was, amazement only growing at the added comfort of pillow and blanket.

She closed her eyes, still having time to wonder if she’d hear Holtzmann come in anyway, despite Abby’s warning… and then she was fast asleep, from one moment to the next, not even stirring when Holtzmann entered a few hours later.


	6. Chapter 6

When Erin awoke in the next day, she felt disoriented at first as she looked around the unfamiliar room, not having an idea where she was and how she had gotten here; then, she remembered what had happened the previous night, and her eyes went wide as she sat up straight, remembering the strange blonde woman who had rescued her from Lord Hudson’s bedroom – and what she herself had done to the lord, still having no idea _how_ she actually had done this.

Not quite sure what to do, Erin then just sat on the mattress for a bit, trying to figure out if she could dare to leave the room or if the women who had been so kind to her the previous day were expecting her to wait here for them until they’d come get her; and as she pondered this and tried to make a decision, the door opened and Holtzmann entered, carrying a tray with a can and a plate covered with soft cloth, smiling at her when she saw that she was awake.

“Good morning”, she said, Erin eying the tray curiously, wondering if it was for her or if Holtzmann had brought it for herself, still feeling full from the previous evening’s luxurious meal, “or, better said, good noon. I bring late breakfast or early lunch, depending on your point of view.”

“What”, Erin gave back, startled, “you let me sleep this long? You should have woken me…”

“Eh”, Holtzmann replied with a shrug, putting the tray onto the small table, from the corner of her eye taking another, closer look at Erin and feeling quite stunned at how gorgeous the woman was, now that she had gotten enough sleep and the dirt and grime from working on the fields had washed off; she still was too thin, Holtzmann could tell even with the somewhat baggy clothing she was wearing, but she figured that this would change sooner rather than later, if her crew and she had anything to say about it.

“No worries”, she added while she pulled the cloth from the plate, revealing freshly baked bread, two eggs and a few slices of ham, “we’re thieves, we’re mostly nocturnal anyway, so you’re not the only one who likes sleeping in. Here, I brought some tea too, I hope you like tea.”

“Um, yes”, Erin gave back, not quite sure actually if she did, but not wanting to be impolite; she got up from the mattress, realizing that she had fallen asleep in the clothing Abby had brought her the previous night, but not quite caring, and sat down to eat, once again amazed at how good it all tasted, the tea she washed the food down with just another wonderful experience she told herself to savour and to enjoy.

“So, uh, Holtzmann”, she said once she had finished eating, the blonde having kept busy by sorting through what looked like vials with a clear liquid and odd little shavings floating in them, looking up and at her though when she said her name, “are we gonna go to the market when I’m done…?”

“Oh you wanna go?” Holtzmann gave back, delighted at Erin being brave enough already to ask for this, knowing how frightened and shy many skaa were, “sure, we can go, what do you need?”

“Um, no, nothing”, Erin mumbled, finding it hard to look at her all at once, but telling herself she might as well face it now, just knowing it would come sooner or later anyway, “I mean… so you can sell me.”

Holtzmann stared at her, going so still all at once that Erin wondered what was happening; she remained quiet though, just waiting for the answer, only to look up in surprise when Holtzmann finally did speak, unaware of how sick the blonde was feeling, after how casually Erin had said this.

“Erin, no”, she said, having to take in a deep breath before she could go on, “what are you saying? No one’s going to sell you.”

“Oh”, Erin gave back, not quite sure what to do with this unexpected information, “um… you… want me to work for you then? I’ve never worked in the city or right in a nobleman’s house, but I’m a fast learner, I can learn to clean and cook and sew, please don’t kill me…”

“What”, Holtzmann gave back, blinking, not quite having expected this, and certainly not the last bit about killing, “Erin, no. You don’t have to work, you’re not gonna get sold, and we’re not going to kill you, do you think I took you with me last night just to sell you or even kill you?”

“I don’t know why you took me with you”, Erin gave back, with just enough of a tremble in her voice to let Holtzmann notice, “what do you want from me, if you don’t want me to work and don’t want to sell me? Just yesterday at this time, I was working on the fields, like I did all my life, and now I’m here and I’m not sure what you expect from me and I just…”

She realized that she had gotten louder and louder and fell silent in shock, cringing back as she expected consequences for this behaviour – the overseers at the fields had been quick to hit them if they had done as much as look them in the eyes, talking back was punished even worse and she only had witnessed a fellow skaa actually yell at one of the men, and had seen what they had done to him, the images still haunting her dreams sometimes, even though it had been years ago.

“I’m sorry”, she said as Holtzmann just kept staring at her, not having expected her to start ranting like this, “I meant no disrespect, I’m sorry…”

“Uh, it’s okay”, Holtzmann gave back, eager to calm her down again, not liking it to see her so upset, “really, no worries, I don’t… feel disrespected. Or something. Look, I get it that you’re upset, after you’ve just been torn out of your life like this, but I did take you along for  a reason, and it has nothing to do with making you work or killing you.”

Erin just kept staring at her by now empty plate, and Holtzmann wondered if she was still freaking out internally, if she simply didn’t care why she had brought her here – or if she didn’t dare to ask, Holtzmann quite sure that it was the last option, her heart clenching up in sympathy.

She moved to sit opposite of her, so they were on eye-level, figuring this was a good start; this didn’t help much though, she had to realize quickly, as Erin still wouldn’t look at her, not even raising her eyes when Holtzmann said her name, in the kindest tone she managed.

“I took you along because just leaving you there wasn’t an option”, she still said, not letting Erin’s refusal to look at her stop her, “and because of what you can do, Erin. You know what you did to him to stop him, right?”

“No”, Erin whispered, still staring at the plate as if it could answer all her questions if she just looked at it long enough, “I… The guards took me to his room and I was so scared, I knew what he would do, he’d done it before, to other girls, and they never came back. Then he… he grabbed me, told me what he would do to me and… I don’t know, I felt this… _thing_ inside me and suddenly his belt buckle was moving and… Am I a monster? Or a demon?”

“Neither”, Holtzmann gently told her, finally making her look up at her again, their eyes meeting and allowing Erin to see the sincerity and genuine care in the blonde’s gaze, “you’re a Misting, Erin. Or perhaps even Mistborn.”

She paused as Erin gaped at her, the redhead had heard the stories, of course, everyone had, whispered around the campfire from skaa to skaa, but she never had thought she’d meet one of them in the flesh, and certainly not that she was one of them, too, eyes widening even more when Holtzmann reached over the table and touched her arm, never breaking the eye contact as she spoke up again, confirming what part of Erin, deep down, already had been suspecting.

“Like me.”


	7. Chapter 7

“No, I can’t be”, Erin protested, shaking her head, “I’m skaa! Skaa can’t be Mistings or… Mistborn, you know the Lord Ruler would never allow it…”

“No, he doesn’t”, Holtzmann confirmed, “but that doesn’t mean he can stop it from happening, and he can never find all of us. And what you did to that lord, well… there was no other way you could have that, Erin.”

Erin had no argument against that, her hand shaking when she ran it through her hair; sensing how upset she was, Holtzmann burned brass and Soothed her, dampening her fears and worries and strengthened the good feelings she had thanks to a night of good sleep and a belly filled with food.

“That is one of the reasons why I took you with me”, she then said, once Erin appeared to have calmed down a bit, “and, as I said, because I couldn’t just leave you there. And even if you’re not a Misting, which I doubt, we can find something to do for you here. But for  now, we should find out if you do have allomantic power.”

“How?” Erin wanted to know, frowning, “if I do, I don’t know how I accessed it.”

“I’ll help”, Holtzmann promised her, glad when she earned a tiny smile; still she Soothed Erin a bit more, not wanting her to feel insecure or nervous, keeping the Soothing going as she got up from her seat and moved to the vials Erin had seen her handle earlier, grabbing one of them and handing it to her.

“Here”, she said as she sat down again, with another hopefully reassuring smile, “this holds the eight Allomantic metals. Steel, iron, zinc, brass, pewter, tin, copper and bronze. Bottoms up.”

Erin looked at the vial a bit sceptical, clearly not sure if drinking down bits of metal was a good idea, even though said bits were small; Holtzmann was still smiling at her though, and she felt encouraged, taking in a deep breath before she uncorked the vial and gulped down the contents, grimacing a bit at the taste.

A moment later, the taste was forgotten though as she felt the power burn within her, her eyes going wide; and from how Holtzmann was smirking, the blonde had picked up on her reaction, her thoughts of Erin’s possible powers apparently confirmed.

“You feel it, don’t you”, she said, Erin staring at her, awed by these new feelings, “the power, burning inside you. What do you feel? More than one?”

“I think so”, Erin gave back, fidgeting, suddenly feeling as if she had to move, unable to sit still any longer, “it’s like… these reservoirs of power. How do I use it…?”

“Focus on the one you want to use”, Holtzmann said, pulling a coin from her pocket and placing it on the table, “let’s start. Reach inside and burn one of them.”

“Burn it?” Erin repeated, not quite sure what Holtzmann meant; nodding, the blonde told her that was what Mistborn called the process, reassuring her that she would know what to do once she’d touch the power, and even though Erin wasn’t quite as sure, she tried to do what Holtzmann had told, frowning to herself as she tentatively reached for one of the powers she could feel within her.

And from one moment to the next, her perception of the world changed as she saw blue lines all over the room, crossing here and there; there was a whole bunch leading to Holtzmann’s pocket, she noticed, and one coming from the coin on the table… and all of them seemed to aim at her chest, for whatever strange reason.

“What are you feeling?” Holtzmann asked, smiling happily when Erin told her about the blue lines, going as far as rubbing her hands gleefully.

“That’s steel or iron, then. The blue lines point out metals you can use”, she said, Erin nodding along, completely focused now, amazed by these new things she was learning so unexpectedly, “steel is for Pushing, and it’s paired with iron, which is for Pulling. Each metal has a partner, so to say, which has the opposite effect. Try using the power on that coin.”

Erin focused on the blue line which led from her chest to the coin, not quite sure how exactly to Push it; she frowned a bit as she focused on the power within her, and imagined the blue line as some sort of spear which would get the coin moving… and suddenly, the coin flew off the table and hit the wall, not falling to the floor though, but remaining pressed against it as if held there, a squeal coming from Erin when she felt herself be shoved backwards, stopping her Push before she consciously realized what she was doing and keeping herself from toppling over the last moment.

“That was good”, Holtzmann said, Erin feeling her cheeks flush at how she almost had fallen over with her chair, “and a valuable lesson, too. Whenever you Push, or Pull, you use your own weight. So as long as the coin is airborne, you’ll have no troubles Pushing it wherever you want. Once it hits a wall though or falls to the floor, your weight won’t be enough to keep it moving, so the Push will work on your body instead. This is how I did the jumping last night. What you did now was Pushing, with steel.”

“And steel is paired with iron”, Erin repeated what Holtzmann had said, making her nod, “and with iron I can Pull?”

“Yes”, Holtzmann confirmed, smiling proudly, a bit like a teacher would smile at a good pupil, “exactly. Just give it a try, try Pulling the coin into your hand, but do it slowly, so it won’t shoot from the wall and dig into your palm.”

Erin grimaced a bit at that, but nodded, then focused on the blue line leading the coin again; it was still pressed against the wall, she realized, wondering if she unwittingly had done that or if Holtzmann had kept there, so it wouldn’t fall to the floor and could be used for the Pulling exercise.

Shrugging it off for now, Erin easily found the iron within her, as close to steel was it was; and then, she carefully used this power to tuck at the coin, amazed when it floated from the wall and into her waiting hand, Holtzmann clapping her hands when the cold metal rested on her palm and she stopped Pulling.

“Great job”, the blonde told her, making her look from the coin and at her again, “when I tried that for the first time, the coin nearly flew in my face. I want you to keep it and practice with it, alright? Pushing and Pulling, getting a feel for it, it’s yours.”

Erin looked at the coin in amazement, never having owned any sort of money before; she figured it wasn’t worth much, certainly Holtzmann wouldn’t have given it to her if it’d had any real worth, but still it was _hers_ , Holtzmann had said so, and she couldn’t believe she actually had a coin of her very own now.

“That’s enough for now”, Holtzmann told her, making her look at her again, “I don’t want to overdo it on your first day. Practice with your coin, and once you’re secure with it, we’ll try the next pair, alright?”

“Alright”, Erin gave back, then looked at the coin in wonder again; Holtzmann smiled at her and told her to enjoy practicing before she got up and left the room, giving her some privacy, Erin barely noticing her leave though, too amazed by how suddenly and completely her life and her perception of herself was changing.


	8. Chapter 8

For quite a while, Erin busied herself with practicing, as Holtzmann had said; she Pushed the coin against the wall, figuring out the perfect moment to stop Pushing so she wouldn’t get thrown back, then Pulled the coin back to her hand, daring to do so with a bit more force as she slowly got a feel for which amount of power would create what kind of speed.

Still she had to duck once when she overdid it and the coin came shooting towards her, almost too fast enough to let her eyes follow it; she felt embarrassed, glad that no one had been around to see her, not quite sure if her progress was fast or slow though thanks to the lack of comment from anyone, and not having anyone she could compare it to.

Erin got so lost in her practice that she didn’t notice how time passed, until there was a knock from the door; pulling the coin to her hand, Erin stopped and hesitatingly called out “yes?”, wondering if it was Holtzmann coming to check her progress and what the blonde would say, feeling eager to please her, after the kindness the younger woman had shown her.

As it turned out, it wasn’t Holtzmann though, but Abby, the woman smiling at her as she entered; she surprised Erin by asking if she had a bit of time for her, her surprise clearly showing as she nodded, Abby’s gaze softening while she walked to the table and sat down on the chair Holtzmann had been using earlier.

“You know you could have told me to come back later, right”, she asked, making the redhead shrug; deciding not to push the issue further, Abby gestured at the coin Erin was holding, and asked her how practice had been with Holtzmann, noticing how the corners of Erin’s mouth twitched as she looked down at the coin, as well.

_Her_ coin, she realized again, Holtzmann had gifted it to her, perhaps just so she could practice, but still Erin found herself wondering if the blonde actually knew what a great gift this was, for a skaa who had lived all her life working on the fields of a nobleman and never had had any money of her own.

“I have some power”, she said instead of mentioning how much this gift meant to her, unaware of the fact that Abby knew perfectly well, knowing how the field skaa lived, “I can use steel and iron.”

“Steel and iron?” Abby gave back, raising an eyebrow, Erin not quite sure why she sounded so surprised, “well, I’ll be damned. Guess Holtz was right when she speculated you’re Mistborn, huh?”

Erin only blinked, her mouth falling open almost comically, and it took Abby a second to realize why the redhead had this reaction, looking sheepish as she realized what she just had done.

“Oh”, she let out, feeling bad now for just dropping this on Erin, “Holtz didn’t mention that yet, did she. I guess she wanted to let you figure out those two metals at first… Sorry…?”

“Yesterday I didn’t even know I have any sort of power”, Erin gave back, still sounding and looking shocked, “and today you tell me I’m Mistborn…? But how? Skaa aren’t supposed to have any of these powers, the Lord Ruler…”

“The Lord Ruler tries his best that only nobles have those powers, yes”, Abby nodded, still feeling bad for being so blunt with Erin, even though she hadn’t done it on purpose, “but he can’t stop it from happening. Do you know if your mother or father had any power?”

“I never knew my parents”, Erin gave back, shrugging a bit, slowly recovering from the shock Abby had given her, “my mother was sent to the pits when I was a baby, and I don’t know about my father…”

“He might have been a noble then”, Abby said thoughtfully, earning another shrug from the redhead, “or perhaps, your grandparents, sometimes, the skill skips a generation or two. Anyway… Lucky Holtz, now she’s not the only Mistborn of the crew anymore, I bet she’s thrilled.”

Erin wondered then if Abby and Patty had any powers, but figured it wasn’t her place to ask; and so, she just cleared her throat, but apparently, Abby could tell what she was thinking about, smiling at her as she answered the unasked question.

“Patty and I both have power, too”, she told her, Erin blushing a bit as she wondered if she had been so easy to read, “but we’re mere Mistings, we each can only use one metal. Copper for me, brass for Patty. Patty’s a Soother, I’m a Smoker.”

“Smoker…?” Erin repeated, making Abby nod before she explained, letting her know that her power hid any allomancy done around her from others, from those who had the power to feel allomantic pulses; Erin found herself wondering if she could do this, too, gathering all her courage so she’d dare to ask.

“So I can do this too?” she wanted to know, “when I burn copper? How does it feel like? I want to try.”

“Um, it’s kind of hard to describe”, Abby said, looking a bit sheepish now, “I’ve been able to do it since I was quite young, so… Wait, I’ll get you some copper though, then you can try it."  
  
“Oh no need”, Erin gave back, feeling excited about learning something new, not noticing how Abby gaped at her as she continued, “I should have some, Holtzmann gave me a vial with all metals and I’ve only been using iron and steel, to Push and Pull.”

“You still got metal in your system then?” Abby asked, making the redhead nod; Abby’s face darkened, and Erin shrank back, thinking she had made her mad now, but apparently, Abby’s ire wasn’t aimed at her, since she got up and marched to the door, practically yanked it open and then yelled “HOLTZMANN!”, Erin flinching at how loud her voice was.

It didn’t take long until Holtzmann came running, looking worried; she grimaced when she saw the look on Abby’s face though, Erin only feeling worse when the Smoker gestured at her, not taking her eyes off of Holtzmann for even a second though.

“You just left her with a bunch of metals in her stomach?!” Abby demanded to know, Holtzmann looking startled, then sheepish, “Holtzmann! That is dangerous! If she hadn’t mentioned it to me, she could have gotten seriously ill, she’s not used to it yet!”

“Um, I forgot”, Holtzmann gave back, clearly feeling bad, “I’m sorry Erin, I’m so used to it, I didn’t think of…”

“Don’t punish her, please”, Erin threw in, feeling bad for having gotten Holtzmann into trouble with her thoughtless talking, her words prompting both Abby and Holtzmann to stare at her, “it was my mistake, I shouldn’t have said anything, I’m sorry.”

“No one is going to punish anyone”, Abby reassured her, her heart clenching up at the relief she saw in Erin’s eyes in response, “and don’t be sorry for speaking up, Erin. You’re not on the fields of this despicable lord anymore, here, everyone can speak their mind.”

“What Abby said”, Holtzmann confirmed, “and I’m the one who has to apologize, I really should have thought of that. I’m sorry Erin, I promise it won’t happen again, and I hope you accept my apology.”

Erin could only nod, not having expected this at all; Holtzmann gave her a reassuring smile, then skilfully changed the topic by asking her how she had progressed with her practicing, and that she should show her, Abby watching in silence as Erin demonstrated her Pushing and Pulling, wondering if the redhead was aware of how fast she had learned and how good her control already was.


	9. Chapter 9

“Well, you’ve made quite the progress”, Holtzmann said admiringly as Erin finished her little demonstration, “good. There’s still some hours left until nightfall, I suggest we have an early dinner and then take a nap so we’re ready once it’s dark outside.”

“Um…?” Erin let out, not quite sure what to expect, and not liking the thought of going outside at night much; Abby rolled her eyes at how clumsily Holtzmann had told the redhead about her plans, giving her a soothing smile as she spoke up.

“Holtz might be amazing at planning burglaries and scams”, she said, making Erin look at her, “but she’s not very good about communicating those plans. We’re used to it, I imagine you’ll be too, after a while. She means to say that she wants to go out with you at night to practice jumping, using Pushing and Pulling.”

“Oh”, Erin gave back, still not all too eloquent, feeling frightened at the thought of going out into the night; all her life, she had been told that it was dangerous once night had fallen, that the mists could hurt and kill, and she wasn’t quite sure if being Mistborn included any powers which would keep that from happening to her.

She didn’t dare to protest though, not wanting to risk Holtzmann getting angry with her; and so, she just nodded, Holtzmann giving her a bright smile in response, then vaguely gesturing at the door, asking her to come along then so they could find something to eat.

“You can help yourself to food from our storage whenever you want, you know”, she said as they left the room together and Holtzmann led the way down the hallway, “no need to wait for us or to ask, when you’re hungry, just grab a bite. We usually eat cold when we’re here, but tomorrow night, we’ll visit my mentor, we’ll get awesome food there.”

Not sure if an answer was expected, Erin just nodded, earning another toothy grin from Holtzmann; then, the blonde pushed the door leading to their little storage room open, gesturing at the food with a flourish, Erin’s eyes widening a bit at the hams hanging from the ceiling, the wheels of cheese, the loaves of bread and the vegetables on the wooden shelves, her mouth watering even though it hadn’t been that long since she’d had late breakfast.

“What do you feel like having?” Holtzmann asked, grabbing a large knife which had been hanging from a hook next to the door, “bread I guess? Do you prefer cheese or ham?”

“Whatever you will have”, Erin gave back, not wanting to be a nuisance; Holtzmann declared that she felt like having both in response and carved generous pieces off the food, arranging it a bit sloppily on two wooden boards before she handed one of them to Erin, then led the way again, back to her room.

Erin still felt nervous about having to go out during the night, not very fond of the idea; still she made herself eat along with Holtzmann, and after the early dinner had been eaten, laid down on the mattress on the floor while Holtzmann flopped onto her bed, wishing her a good sleep before she apparently went from being awake to fast asleep from one moment to the other.

Unlike Holtzmann, Erin couldn’t fall asleep so fast, lying awake on the mattress and staring up at the ceiling, nervous about the trip outside during the night Holtzmann had been talking about; finally though, she fell asleep as well, into an uneasy slumber, her dreams plagued by images of the mists and the things she knew lurked within.

* * *

Before they headed out into the misty night, Holtzmann gave Erin some black clothing, making them both match; they’d be hard to spot, the redhead realized as she pulled the new garments on, her amazement at how soft they felt on her skin briefly allowing her to forget her worries, Holtzmann missing the astonished look Erin had on her face as she had turned her back on the redhead when she had started to change.

“Alright”, Holtzmann said as Erin timidly let her know she was done, “no cloaks for today, just dressing in black. You’ll get your own Mistborn cloak though, no worries, once you have a basic grasp of all the metals. Ready to head out?”

Erin felt far from ready, but she still wanted to please Holtzmann, and so, she nodded, telling herself she could do it, if Holtzmann, a woman clearly a few years younger than her could do it, then so could she; still she felt nervous as she followed the blonde, glancing this way and that once they had stepped outside, almost expecting the mists to rear up and attack them.

They didn’t, to her relief, but her nervousness didn’t vanish; clearly, Holtzmann had no worries about being outside during the night though, humming to herself as she led her away from the warehouse, stopping in one of the darker side alleys and giving Erin a bright smile.

“Alright”, she then said, Erin forcing herself to focus on what she was saying and trying hard to not let her nervousness distract her, “what do you wanna do first? Try another metal, or try a jump?”

“I… don’t know”, Erin gave back, feeling a bit nervous again, afraid that Holtzmann would get annoyed or even angry at her inability to choose, “what would you suggest…?”

“Well, I like jumping”, Holtzmann said, not appearing as if she was annoyed by Erin answering her question with one of her own, “so if you feel like it, we can try that. We can do it safely here, no guards patrol at this time of the night, just make sure you don’t jump over any buildings, alright?”

“Alright…?” Erin gave back, feeling nervous again; Holtzmann gave her a reassuring smile and Soothed her, just a little bit to take her anxieties away, not wanting her too worry too much during her first Allomantic jump, aware that she might lose her focus then and end up getting hurt.

“We’ll start slow”, Holtzmann promised, smiling at her, “I’ll be right there next to you, alright? I’ll show you how it works.”

Erin nodded again, nervousness growing when she watched how Holtzmann pulled a coin from the pouch she had tied to her belt; then, she dug into her pocket and surprised Erin by pulling out another pouch, as bulging with currency as the one she had bound to her belt was.

“Here”, she said, holding it out to the stunned Erin, “that’s yours, you’ll need more than one coin to jump successfully. For now, just one will be enough, but once we try more, it won’t do.”

“This is a fortune!” Erin gave back, blurting the words out before she could stop herself, staring at the pouch in awe, “I can’t accept this, it’s too much, I can’t ever pay this back…”

“Eh, it’s just the smallest currency”, Holtzmann replied with a shrug, earning a wide-eyed look of disbelief, “no worries, pay me back by learning how to properly use your metals and we’re even. Ready?”

“Um, I’m not sure”, Erin honestly gave back, swallowing as she eyed the coin Holtzmann had started toying with again, not quite sure what to expect; she had been carried by the blonde when they had fled from Lord Hudson’s mansion, and had seen how the jumping worked, but that had been pure theory for her, and she wasn’t sure if she’d actually be able to do it.

“You can do it”, Holtzmann reassured her, smiling at the doubtful look she received in response, “I promise, you have made such progress already when you practiced with the coin. And I also promise nothing will happen to you, I won’t let you fall.”

“Alright”, Erin made herself say, even though she still wasn’t sure it was a good idea; Holtzmann gave her a bright, happy smile, then dropped the coin to the floor, Erin feeling a pang at seeing money just being tossed around like this, despite what Holtzmann had said about the coin being the smallest currency the empire offered.

“Start burning steel”, Holtzmann instructed, “then drop your coin and stand right above it, then gently Push against it. Gently, just a bit! Don’t worry about Allomantic pulses, I’m burning copper to hide our pulses.”

Erin made herself nod, then, with a heavy heart, dropped the coin; she started burning steel, taking in a deep breath before she Pushed – only realizing too late that she had done so with too much force when she shot upwards into the sky, and at an angle, too, a cry coming from her as she flailed her arms.

Before she realized what she was doing, she stopped burning steel… and a heartbeat after she had done so, she was falling, her panic only growing as she realized how far up she had catapulted herself, and how hard she would hit the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

_You’re gonna die_ , Erin’s mind shrieked at her as she fell, not even able to scream, her throat closed with panic and fear, _you’ll hit the ground and die, you never should have agreed to this, you’re no Mistborn, you’re just a worthless skaa, you’re gonna die you’re gonna die you’re gonna—_

She heard a loud flapping sound, and suddenly, arms were beneath her, catching her, holding her, and her fall slowed; she was still gasping for breath, close to crying from sheer fear, but a few moments later, her fear started to fade away, and her mind cleared enough to let her realize that Holtzmann had caught her, and was now Pushing against some metal to slow their fall.

“It’s alright, it’s alright”, she heard Holtzmann say soothingly, clinging tightly to her despite how secure the blonde’s hold on her was, “you’re not falling anymore, you’ll be fine. We’re almost back down at the ground, just a bit more… there we go.”

She landed so soft that her feet barely made a noise on the cobblestone, Erin’s harsh breathing louder than any noise Holtzmann might have made; the blonde moved as if to put her down, but Erin held on to her tighter and shook her head, still unable to speak, only capable of giving her a pleading look.

“Alright, no putting you down yet”, Holtzmann got the hint quickly, burning pewter so she could carry her easier – Erin didn’t weigh much, and Holtzmann figured she could have carried her without the aid of pewter for a bit, but she’d used it when she had caught her just to make sure her arms and shoulders would be capable of taking the strain, and she figured that she might as well keep it burning for now, “I’ll keep carrying you then, no problem. You want to go back? To the hideout?”

Erin wanted to nod, all she wanted was to go back and hide; she also wanted to make Holtzmann satisfied with her progress though, afraid of what Holtzmann might do, should she decide she was wasting her time, and so, she took in another deep breath, an audible tremble in her voice when she replied, unaware that Holtzmann was Soothing her fear in an attempt to help her calm down faster.

“Maybe”, she started, then heard how close her voice was to cracking and took in another breath, managing to sound a bit more secure when she tried again, “um… maybe we can try something… less dangerous? For now?”

“Sure”, Holtzmann replied, with another bright smile, this reaction showing Erin that she had made the right choice, even though she was still frightened after what had happened, “but I’ll have to put you down for that, alright?”

Erin made herself nod, and Holtzmann gently lowered her to the ground; she remained close to her though, to Erin’s relief, giving her another reassuring smile as she asked her to burn one of the metals and tell her what she saw or felt.

The redhead nodded, then burned one of the metals she didn’t know yet; and suddenly, everything was so clear and loud and omnipresent, she could smell a myriad of scents, felt the smallest unevenness in the cobblestoned beneath her feet and every single thread of the clothes she was wearing, the gasp she let out unnaturally loud in her ears, prompting her to clap her hands over her mouth, her eyes going wide.

“Let me guess”, Holtzmann said, smiling a bit, “your senses are suddenly super keen? That’s tin. It takes a bit of practice to focus on one, we mostly use it for seeing and listening when we’re… working.”

Her smile softened, and she took a step closer to Erin, the redhead experiencing an odd tingle in her stomach at the way Holtzmann was looking at her, with this soft kindness; she blamed this on the metals in there though, figuring it might have strange side effects to have metal in her belly for the first time, finding it hard to look away from the blonde though, even when Holtzmann pointed up at the sky.

“Look up”, Holtzmann encouraged her, and even though she wasn’t sure why she should do this, with the mists clouding everything at night, Erin did so… and a moment later, she gasped again, her eyes going wide.

Burning tin enhanced her vision enough to let her gaze pierce the nightly mists, and for the first time in her life, she could see the stars.

“Lord Ruler”, Erin whispered, barely noticing how she took hold of Holtzmann’s arm, needing something to steady herself, dully aware of the fact that she could feel the threads of Holtzmann’s shirt and the warmth of her skin, also thanks to the tin she still was burning.

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they”, Holtzmann said, keeping her voice low as she was aware of how loud she had to sound to someone burning tin; Erin kept staring up at the sky for a bit longer, mesmerized, until she managed to tear her gaze away and looked at Holtzmann again, barely able to nod a bit, her throat once again too tight to let her speak.

“With tin, you can see them each night, if you want”, Holtzmann went on, Erin looking up at the stars again in response, “and never worry about running out of tin, we’ll make sure you have enough of all metals at all times, Abby, Patty and me.”

Erin almost asked why they would bother, and what they would want in return from her; then, she decided that she didn’t want to ruin this nice moment by asking such questions and just smiled and nodded, belatedly realizing that she still had her hand on Holtzmann’s arm and pulling back quickly, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.

“Alright”, Holtzmann said, with another smile at the redhead, “I think that was enough excitement for tonight. Let’s go back to the hideout, alright?”

Erin had gotten over her fear after her fall, and would have been willing to try some more; she didn’t want to push though, and so, she just nodded, Holtzmann smiling at her again before she started leading the way back to the hideout, Erin following close behind her, still amazed at the stars, looking up again every now and again, barely able to handle the unexpected beauty which burning tin had revealed to her.

* * *

Quite a while later, Erin laid on the mattress, looking up at the ceiling; Holtzmann had gone out to some sort of nightly job, something Erin figured probably wasn’t exactly legal, but she couldn’t find it within herself to be upset at the thought, too amazed after the night’s short lesson.

She still remembered well how the sky had looked, with all the glowing lights, how beautiful it had been; she had seen the sky during the day, of course, when she hadn’t kept her head low and had been focused on her work on the fields, but she never would have thought at the sky at night would look so different, so much prettier than it did during the day, and than it did when one looked up without burning tin, unable to see through the mist.

The mists always had frightened her, especially ever since one certain night, when she had been eight; not wanting to think about said night, Erin pushed those thoughts out of her mind, and thought back to how beautiful the sky had looked again instead, suddenly feeling angry at the mists, and at the unfairness that people who couldn’t burn tin would never be able to experience this.

Holding back a sigh, she told herself that being angry at this wouldn’t lead anywhere, yawning as the night’s excitement caught up with her; she remembered what Holtzmann had said about burning all her metals before going to sleep, and did so, burning one after the other, knowing steel, iron and tin at this point, but having no real idea what the others did so far.

_Not even Abby can do it,_ she realized, Abby having told her that her skill was a Smoker was to hide Allomancy happening from others; she wondered if Patty could, but Abby told her that Patty was a Soother, and somehow, Soothing didn’t sound as if it had anything to do with heightened senses.

She made a mental note to ask about what Soothing meant, and which metal was used for it, then yawned again, realizing it might be a good idea to get some sleep now, not quite sure what would await her in the next day.

Remembering what Holtzmann had said, Erin burned all the metals still within her, flaring them to make them burn faster, momentarily feeling strong and fully awake, her eyes widening; the feeling faded as fast as it had appeared, and she figured it had come from one of the metals, telling herself she should ask Holtzmann about that, too while she laid down to sleep, once more amazed at how soft and comfortable the mattress and the blanket were.

She didn’t fall asleep as fast as she had during her first night at this strange place, but still faster than she ever had back at Lord Hudson’s estate, in the hovel she had shared with a dozen others; and her last thought before she drifted off was of the sky and the beautiful, glittering lights… and of how it felt when Holtzmann had caught her and had held her, of how safe and protected she had felt, something she never had experienced before in her life.


	11. Chapter 11

“I burned all metals before I went to sleep yesterday, like Abby and you said”, Erin told Holtzmann in the next day, as they had yet another meal together in the blonde’s room, “and for a few moments, I felt really awake and strong? But it vanished again when the metal burned away, and I was tired again. What was that?”

“Pewter”, Holtzmann replied at once, “that happens when you burn pewter. It makes you stronger, faster, even lets you fight on when you’re hurt, but you’ll pay the price once you stop burning it.”

“Oh”, Erin let out, “um… good to know, thank you. I already know what copper does, Abby told me, and she said that Patty is a Soother, but I don’t know what that means…”

“Soothing is done with brass”, Holtzmann let her know, amazed by how much more talkative Erin seemed now, “and it’s used to influence people’s emotions. You can’t control them with Soothing, but a good Soother can manipulate them, weaken certain emotions, like fear or insecurity. And brass is paired with zinc, which is used for Rioting, and that…”

“…that makes emotions stronger”, Erin finished for her, Holtzmann giving her a happy grin and nodding; she smiled back at her, a tiny and shy smile – smiling hadn’t been a good thing out on the fields, as usually, an overseer had demanded to know what was so funny – but it was a smile, a clear sign that Erin was getting more comfortable around her.

“Exactly”, she confirmed, Erin feeling a bit proud of herself for having figured this out, even though she told herself it hadn’t been difficult, “a skilled Rioter can take a tiny bit of dismay or grumpiness and spark it into full-blown anger. We have no Rioter on our crew right now, I can do it a bit cause I’m Mistborn, but I’m not very good at it.”

“You’re good at Pushing and Pulling, right”, Erin guessed, not surprised when Holtzmann nodded at once, “I could tell, by how easily you caught me yesterday. Um… Thanks for that, by the way, I didn’t thank you yesterday so…”

“Nothing to thank me for”, Holtzmann told her, giving her another bright smile, “come on, I can’t let you go squish on the cobblestones after I told you I’ll teach you Allomancy, can I? Also, Abby and Patty would kill me if I let anything happen to you, they like you.”

“Oh”, Erin let out, feeling her cheeks colour at those words, not having expected this at all, “um… I like them, too? I like all of you. I didn’t have many people treat me kindly on the fields, I…”

She realized she was rambling and fell silent, mortified at what she almost had revealed; thankfully, Holtzmann didn’t ask though, but just smiled at her, making her blush deepen when she told her that she liked her, too.

“Well, good you like us”, Holtzmann said, finishing her meal and leaning back in her chair comfortably, “cause I’d like you to stay with us a bit longer, at least until you’re trained in Allomancy. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, of course, we’re not gonna kick you out, but we won’t hold you here against your will either.”

All Erin could do in response was to stare at her, not having expected this at all – up until this very moment, she hadn’t exactly felt like a prisoner of this crew, but also had been sure that she wouldn’t just be allowed to leave, should she want to, and now Holtzmann pretty much told her that she could go anytime she liked.

“Oh”, she let out, blinking, momentarily too stunned to say anything else, more coherent, “I… Alright? I wouldn’t know where to go so…”

As she said those words aloud, she realized that it was true – she knew no one in the city except Holtzmann, Abby and Patty, knew nothing about life in the city, and even if she could have gone back to Lord Hudson’s estate, which she doubted, with the Lord dead and gone, she knew that the skaa there wouldn’t receive her with open arms, many of them having the Lord’s men take her to the mansion, all of them well aware that no woman ever had come back from there.

“Well, as I said”, Holtzmann distracted her from these dark thoughts, “you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like, I’m happy to have another Mistborn around. No worries about overstaying your welcome, alright?”

“Thank you”, Erin gave back, touched, realizing fully for the first time how good she had it now – with a warm bed, a roof over her head, and regular proper food, more than she could eat, and it still seemed as if Holtzmann and the others didn’t expect anything from her in return.

Still she was determined to make herself useful, even more so now, after having been openly told that she was no prisoner, but a guest, and could leave anytime she wanted; and so, she decided to start being useful to the crew as fast as possible, telling Holtzmann exactly that, the blonde looking a bit taken aback before she shrugged.

“Well”, she then said, smiling at Erin again, her heart skipping a beat when Erin gave her another small smile in response, seeming much more relaxed all at once, and making Holtzmann wonder if she had thought she was a captive up until this very moment, “I get it that you want to keep busy during the day so… I’m sure we can find something for you to do. Just nothing too tiring because we can only go out to practice Allomancy at night, and I don’t want you to burn pewter too much in the beginning, you have to get used to it.”

Figuring that this made sense, Erin nodded, knowing so little about Allomancy that she practically had to believe everything Holtzmann told her; if she’d had to put this kind of trust into anyone else, it would have frightened her, would have made her insecure and anxious, but somehow, it was easy to trust Holtzmann like this, without questioning the things the blonde told her for even a second.

_Well, of course you can easily trust her_ , she thought to herself while she finished her portion of the food, Holtzmann having gotten done a while ago, _she’s been nothing but good to you so far. And she’s saved your life, twice!_

“Let me”, she said when Holtzmann got up from her seat and reached for Erin’s empty plate, “like I said, I want to be useful, and so far, all I’m good at is cleaning. And field work, but you have no fields, so…”

“Oh”, Holtzmann let out, clearly not having expected her to offer this, “um, alright then? Let’s do it together though, if Abby or Patty walk in on you doing the dishes, they will think I made you do them and will yell at me, I hate doing the dishes and they know that.”

Not sure what the proper response was to that, Erin just blinked, then nodded; Holtzmann grinned and winked at her, making her feel oddly warm inside, and after a moment, she smiled back, nodding again when Holtzmann asked her to follow her, suddenly feeling quite good and confident that everything would work out fine.


	12. Chapter 12

For the next few days, Erin went out to practice Allomancy with Holtzmann at night, and helped the best she could at the hideout during the days; she slowly got better at Pushing and Pulling, even though she still was frightened she might end up falling, but Holtzmann was always there when they practiced Allomantic jumps, and always reassured her she wouldn’t let her fall.

As they practiced and pretty much lived together, Erin’s trust in Holtzmann grew bigger and bigger, making practicing the jumps easier, too, as she never doubted that Holtzmann would catch her, should she fail; and so, she grew more daring with her jumps, and soon could pull them off quite well, figuring out how to Push against coins on the ground in the right angle and how to use bits and pieces of metal on the buildings to Pull and Push to steady herself.

Holtzmann praised her progress, telling her how fast she was learning, and teaching her about the other metals; she didn’t really have any chances to test Soothing and Rioting, not wanting to use them on the blonde, but soon learned how to use bronze to sense Allomantic pulses, and how to use copper to hide them, so no other Allomancer burning bronze would notice them during their practice sessions.

“Most Mistborn would assume we’re nobles out and about, like themselves”, Holtzmann explained one night as they were out practicing again and she reminded Erin to keep her copper burning, doing to herself as well just to be on the safe side, “but they do know that some skaa are Mistborn, too, and if they see us, they only need to take one closer look to know we’re not noblewomen. So better not attract any attention.”

“Makes sense”, Erin nodded, glancing around nervously, as if a noble Mistborn might burst from the mists around them any moment and accuse them of being unworthy of these powers, belatedly realizing what Holtzmann had implied with her words and giving her a surprised look, making her smirk as she continued.

“Wait”, Erin said, momentarily forgetting her worries about being caught be other Mistborn, “you’re skaa, too?”

“Oh yeah”, Holtzmann gave back, earning a wide-eyed look from the redhead, “we all are, Abby, Patty and me. We’re just good at pretending to be noblewomen… well, Abby and Patty are, I usually have to act as the skaa servant when we hit a mansion or a wealthy home.”

“Wow”, Erin mumbled, looking at her in amazement – Holtzmann was clean, and well-fed, and looked healthy, unlike most of the skaa she had known during her life, and she doubted that city skaa had it any easier than field skaa out in the countryside, “I never would have thought… you must be doing well for yourselves, here in the city.”

“Yeah, we do fine”, Holtzmann told her, smiling, “mostly because we’re a band of thieves who rob the wealthy. Our latest haul from your former Lord brought us quite a bit of money, you know.”

Erin nodded, figuring that Lord Hudson had been wealthy, what with how much crops his fields had yielded each year; she found herself wondering, not for the first time, what had happened to the man’s skaa now that he was dead, but didn’t dare ask, too afraid that Holtzmann might confirm her worst suspicions and tell her that they all had been killed off, as retribution for the death of the lord.

“And you’ll do well for yourself, too”, Holtzmann distracted her from these dark thoughts, “once you got used to living here. We can always use another Mistborn on the crew, you know, but if you’re not into that, I’m sure we can find you something else to… do…”

She trailed off and frowned, and Erin had a moment to wonder what was going on – before Holtzmann told her to burn tin, and when she did so, she could hear footsteps, heavy and firm, and approaching them.

“Not soldiers”, Holtzmann decided, making her wonder how she could know, “probably bandits. Not Thugs, I can’t feel any Allomantic pulses from them. I suggest you start burning pewter.”

“What”, Erin squeaked, her eyes going wide, “Holtzmann, no! I can’t fight them, I don’t know how! We should run away!”

“With pewter, you don’t need to know how to fight”, Holtzmann told her, earning a look of disbelief, “you just have to hit them. Hit them hard.”

“I don’t even know if I can do that!” Erin gave back, the footsteps continuously growing louder – before two men came around the corner and stopped at seeing them, their gazes quickly finding the coin pouches both women had tied to their belts, their eyes lighting up.

“Well, well, well”, one of them said, exposing brown and broken teeth when he smiled, clear proof that he had been in fights before, “what a pleasant surprise. Ladies? Why don’t you hand over those pouches?”

“I think not”, Holtzmann replied pleasantly, smiling at them, Erin oddly glad for whatever reason that her teeth didn’t look like the man’s, “why don’t you boys turn around and walk back to where you came from? Then nobody has to get hurt.”

“Right”, the other man gave back, eying her as he clearly hadn’t expected this reaction, “let’s make this quick, then.”

Without fully realizing what she was doing, Erin started burning pewter, and despite her fear, she was amazed at how much more alert it made her feel, how strength flooded her body; then, one of the men charged at her, bringing his fists up, and when he swung at her, she found herself side-stepping easily, surprised by how effortlessly she could do so, almost as if he was moving in slow motion.

She saw him move past her, flailing as the missed hit had made him lose his balance; and without thinking about it, Erin placed her hand on his back and pushed, and with the help of pewter, she was amazed that she actually sent him flying face first onto the street.

From behind her, she heard a fist meet flesh, and turned to look, suddenly worried that Holtzmann had been hurt; it was the man who had been attacking the blonde who was on the ground though, clutching at his face, blood streaming out from between his fingers, low groans coming from him while Holtzmann stood next to him, dusting off her hands as if she had touched something dirty.

“Alright fellas”, she said, bending down and snatching a small pouch from the belt of the man she had downed, “thanks for the cash.”

She moved over to the man Erin had downed, the redhead watching with amazement how she took his money, too; then, she threw down a coin and nodded at Erin before she Pushed off the coin and shot off into the night, Erin following after a moment, feeling stronger and more confident than she ever had before in her life.


	13. Chapter 13

“You did well”, Holtzmann praised Erin quite a while later, as they reached their hideout and both stopped burning their metals, “see, I told you, no skill needed to fight when you have pewter. I’ll still teach you a thing or two though, just in case.”

“I just pushed him”, Erin gave back, blushing a bit at all this praise, not used to anyone speaking to her like this, “the pewter did all the work, really…”

“Still”, Holtzmann told her, smiling as she held the door open for her and let her enter the building first, “don’t be so modest, not every skaa who’s worked the fields all her life would have been capable of fighting, even it was just a push. I know how field skaa are treated, Erin, and I know that fighting back isn’t an option with the overseers. But it is one for you, now.”

Erin looked down on her hands in response, thinking back to how amazing it had felt when she had been burning pewter, how fast and strong she had been; and she found herself smiling, Holtzmann grinning at her in response, gesturing towards the hallway afterwards, making the redhead nod when she told her she was hungry now and wanted to get some food before it’d be time to sleep.

“Nothing better than a snack after some fighting”, Holtzmann told her as she led the way, “I dunno about you, but it always gets my appetite up, so I—”

“Fighting?” Patty demanded to know, popping out from one of the rooms lining the hallway and actually making Erin squeak in fear while Holtzmann looked quite unfazed, “Holtzy! Whom did you fight? Please tell me you didn’t attack the Lord Ruler’s patrols again!”

“Noooo”, Holtzmann gave back while Erin clutched her chest and panted, still startled; she noticed how Patty looked at her and the sympathetic look she got on her face, and more out of instinct than conscious thought, she started burning bronze, not quite surprised when she felt distinct pulses coming from Patty, and sent her way.

“You’re Soothing me”, she said, before Holtzmann could explain what had happened, “because you frightened me. You’re trying to Soothe my fear away.”

Both Patty and Holtzmann just stared at her, and she started to feel bad after a moment or two, starting to worry she had overstepped some sort of boundary she hadn’t been aware of; then, Patty spoke up, sounding awed and not angry at all, making Erin wonder if what she had done really had been such a difficult thing to accomplish.

“You can tell already?” the Soother wanted to know, eying at her as if she had grown a second head, “after just a week of practicing Allomancy? Holtz, did you even practice Seeking with her that much?”

“Barely at all”, Holtzmann gave back, Erin fidgeting a bit at how intensely both Patty and the blonde were staring at her now, “actually, I just showed her one time how it works. Have you been practicing on your own, Erin? Don’t look so nervous, it’s a good thing!”

“I didn’t”, Erin mumbled, hoping they would believe her and not accuse her of lying – the overseer had accused her of stealing a turnip once, and hadn’t believed her when she truthfully had told him she hadn’t, the scars from that punishment still visible, “I just… I don’t know, I thought Patty would try to Soothe me after how she looked at me, so I checked.”

“Huh”, Holtzmann let out, while Patty looked quite impressed, “that’s really impressive, you know. Well, no, you don’t, cause nobody told you until I did right now. But it is. We should look into how good you are with this more, when we go out to train again.”

“Don’t forget, no training tomorrow”, Patty told her, while Erin nodded, glad that she apparently hadn’t done anything wrong and wouldn’t be punished – so far, she thought to herself, Holtzmann had been nothing but kind and patient with her, and hadn’t given her any reason to fear punishment, but still Erin couldn’t help herself, not after twenty-five years as a field skaa, “we’ll go see Rebecca tomorrow night, she’ll be annoyed if you forget and we’re late again.”

“I know, I know”, Holtzmann gave back, while Erin felt a bit confused, wondering who this Rebecca was, why they would go to see her and if she would be allowed to come with the group or if they’d expect her to stay at the hideout, “I won’t forget, I promise. Sorry Erin, but we’ll look into this soon, I promise.”

Erin just nodded, not sure if any other response was expected from her; Holtzmann gave her a bright smile, then declared she wanted to get that snack now, asking Erin to follow her, the redhead trailing along behind her, still thinking about this apparent skill she apparently had, and how she could use it to help Holtzmann and the others.

* * *

As it turned out in the next evening, they did want her to come along, pretty much assuming that she would; Holtzmann simply asked her to bring her coin pouch when they were getting ready to go, and Erin merely nodding, deciding not to question it.

The four of them headed out just after nightfall, and Erin was amazed at how unconcerned Abby and Patty seemed about the mists, just like Holtzmann; she wondered if they were just reckless, like Holtzmann, or if the skaa she had grown up with had been wrong to be so frightened of the mists, realizing that during the time she had spent outside training with Holtzmann in the night, nothing bad had ever come from the mists.

She also remembered another night though, when she had been much younger, scared and alone; before too many of these memories could resurface though, she rigorously pushed them back down, focusing on the crew instead, trying to remember the path they were taking as she walked with them.

She had seen a few parts of the city during the nightly training with Holtzmann, but knew that she hadn’t seen much of it yet; the last thing she wanted was to get lost, not sure she’d ever find her way back to the warehouse, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to simply ask people for the way back.

To Erin’s surprise, they soon left the area where the warehouse was located, and moved on to a much nicer looking part of town; Holtzmann told her that she was burning tin so they could avoid any guards patrolling there, and that Abby was burning copper to hide the pulses Holtzmann caused with that, but still Erin felt nervous, glancing around as they walked, feeling as if she was trespassing.

The others clearly had no such qualms, walking as if they belonged there; Holtzmann was even whistling to herself, a jaunty tune, even though Patty told her to cut it out after a while, claiming that it made her annoyed, and not saying that it might attract unwanted attention.

“There we are”, Holtzmann distracted Erin from her observations as they stopped in front of a large, expensive looking house, almost a mansion; Erin gaped at the building – it was almost as big as Lord Hudson’s manor had been, and the coloured glass windows were even more beautiful than those Hudson had had in his house, making her wonder what they were doing there, if this Rebecca person they would meet lived there or if Rebecca was another thief and would help them rob this place.

Apparently, they weren’t planning a burglary, since Holtzmann knocked the door; it didn’t take long until it opened, a tall, handsome blonde man standing there, looking at them a bit blankly, Erin having a moment to take in the rings he wore on his fingers and which pierces his ears before he said “Yes?”.

“Kevin”, Patty said, shaking her head, “how many more times do we have to introduce ourselves to you? Lord Ruler, how can one man be so pretty and yet so dumb.”

“Rebecca’s home, right”, Holtzmann said before the tall man had a chance to reply to the insult, the slightly dazed way he smiled though making Erin wonder if he had even registered it, “we’re here to see her.”

“Ah, yes”, he gave back, taking a step aside to let them enter, “please, do come in. I think Lady Gorin is expecting you.”

_Lady Gorin?_ Erin thought to herself, suddenly feeling frightened as she wondered if she’d be sold after all, and if that was why she hadn’t been told why they were going to this place; it was too late to run though, and she knew she wouldn’t be fast enough to get away from Holtzmann, and so, she steeled herself against whatever might happen now as she entered the house, perfectly unaware of the real reason why they were there.


	14. Chapter 14

The tall man named Kevin led the way through the noble house, to what appeared to be the dining hall; the table was set for four people, Erin noted, her heart sinking even further – certainly, she thought to herself, she would be sold to this mysterious Lady Gorin now, if there wasn’t even a place for her at the table, a woman sitting at said table already, raising an eyebrow when the four women entered the room.

She looked stern and strict, unlike the few noblewomen Erin had seen during work on the fields of Lord Hudson; those women had been giggly and dressed in puffy gowns, while this woman was wearing a simple black gown, far from as frilly and decorated as the few Erin had seen when Lord Hudson had had noble visitors.

“Jillian”, the woman said, not bothering to rise from her seat, “you should have told me that you’re bringing a guest. Kevin, tell Bradley we will need another place set.”

“Yeah, sorry about that”, Holtzmann gave back, Erin eying her at the realization that Jillian was her first name, deciding silently that “Holtzmann” fit her much better, “it was kinda short notice? This is Erin, by the way, she’s sorta new to the crew, Mistborn, too. Erin, this is Rebecca Gorin, my mentor and our fence.”

“I resent it when you call me that”, Rebecca replied dryly, Holtzmann giving her an innocent smile in response, “as you know. Nice to meet you, Erin.”

“Um, likewise”, Erin gave back, feeling confused again when the woman gestured at the seats and asked them to get comfortable; the man named Kevin returned with another guy in tow, who quickly set a place for Erin, and started pouring wine into the goblets which had been readied, letting them know that the first course would be served shortly before he retreated.

“Alright, our helper”, Holtzmann corrected herself, winking at Erin and taking a sip from her wine before she continued, “we bring her the jewels and other valuable stuff we steal which is not cash money and she sells it for us. Has been working out for years.”

“Jillian”, Rebecca said, raising an eyebrow and giving Erin a look which made her feel as if the older woman was staring straight into her soul, the redhead reflexively burning bronze to see if the noblewoman was using some sort of Allomancy on her, not sure what to think when she felt no pulses, “I would thank you to not speak so freely about these things in front of a complete stranger.”

“Eh, no worries”, Holtzmann replied while Erin fought the urge to fidget on her chair under Rebecca’s steady gaze, suddenly just knowing that this would be seen as a sign of weakness and not wanting to appear weak to this woman, “she’s with us. She hasn’t been on a job yet with us, I took her back here with me when we hit Hudson’s mansion.”

“Elaborate”, Rebecca replied, Erin feeling a bit better when the steely gaze moved from her to the blonde; Holtzmann seemed to handle it much better, simply telling the noblewoman what had happened, how she had found Erin in the Lord’s bedroom with the Lord himself dead, killed by her Allomancy, and a bunch of guards just having had arrived, reacting to the dying screams of the man.

“So I knocked them out”, Holtzmann told her, while Rebecca’s gaze moved to Erin again, to the redhead’s dismay, “grabbed her, and off we went. I couldn’t just leave her there, not after how she handled that despicable lord, I knew she was at least a Misting, and then she turned out to be Mistborn, too!”

“How fortunate”, Rebecca gave back, the dry tone she still used showing Erin that perhaps, she didn’t quite mean that, “but does that mean we can trust her? What if she rats you out to an obligator?”

“I won’t”, Erin mumbled, struggling to not look away when Rebecca’s piercing gaze met hers; the elder woman stared into her eyes for a few moments, then apparently was satisfied with what she saw, since she nodded, relaxing visibly.

As if that had been some sort of cue, servants appeared, carrying plates of soup and baskets of bread; judging from how Abby’s eyes lit up, she was quite fond of the soup, Holtzmann and Patty looking quite happy, too, the smell of the soup being enough to make Erin’s mouth water, and she figured that the other three had good reason to look happy about the food – they had plenty of cold food at the warehouse, but rarely cooked there, none of them very good at it, and food prepared by a noblewoman’s cook certainly would be better than anything one of them could have managed to make.

“Food first”, Rebecca stated, picking up her spoon, “then business. Jillian, do not try to steal my cutlery again.”

“Sorry”, Holtzmann replied, a bit sheepish, Erin blinking when she pulled a butter knife from her sleeve and put it back on the table, “habit. Thanks for dinner, Rebecca.”

“You’re welcome”, Rebecca gave back, then they all started eating; the soup was so good that Erin had to hold back a moan at the first spoonful, and then needed a lot of willpower to not wolf the food down, telling herself it would be impolite and that she didn’t want to make a bad impression.

_Not to mention that you can’t know you’ll ever get such amazing food again_ , she thought to herself as she ate slowly, savouring every spoonful, _you heard what she said, first dinner, then business, and then you’ll leave this place and go back to the warehouse. Not that the warehouse is bad, but this food… wow._

Even though Erin tried to eat slow, the soup was gone way too quickly, and she almost felt forlorn when the servants removed the empty bowls… only to nearly fall off her chair when another minute later, a large platter heaped with steaming slabs of meat was brought in, followed by bowls of vegetables and mashed potatoes, the redhead unable to stop staring as the food was put down in the middle of the table.

“Oh, we should have warned poor Erin that this is a three course dinner”, Abby said as she noticed the look on Erin’s face, “she looks like she’s about to faint. Erin, dear, if you feel like you’ll pass out, burn pewter, I hear it helps.”

“Um”, was all Erin could let out, Rebecca raising an eyebrow, but not commenting; Erin cleared her throat, then managed a nod when one of the servants asked her if she wanted both meat and vegetables, her mouth watering at the generous portion the man heaped onto her plate.

She tried hard to listen to the talk of the other women as she ate, but found it hard to focus, with the amazing food distracting her; and it only got better when the main course had been eaten and dessert was served, in form of a delicious cake which was so sweet that it almost made her teeth hurt.

“Alright”, Rebecca said once the cake had been eaten and the tea which had been served to it had been finished, as well, “time for business. You brought valuable things this time, Jillian, congratulations. Kevin?”

The tall blonde man moved to the table in response and pulled a large bag bulging with coin from the depths of his colourful robes; he held it out to Rebecca, and she thanked him as she took it, then put it on the table in front of the women, Kevin retreating again with another dopey smile while Holtzmann rubbed her hands.

“Excellent”, she said as she untied the string holding the bag close and peering inside it, “thanks, Rebecca, we couldn’t do this without you.”

“I know”, Rebecca dryly replied, earning a toothy grin from Holtzmann; and while the business part of the visit had been taken care of, said visit apparently wasn’t over yet, Abby, Patty and Holtzmann talking to Rebecca about news from the noble houses while Erin just quietly sat and listened, still amazed at the life she suddenly had been dragged into, so much better than what she had known during her previous years.


	15. Chapter 15

“Lord North”, one of the guards said, bowing low as the Lord climbed from the carriage, looking around disdainfully, “welcome to your new mansion.”

“Eh”, he replied, with a dismissive wave of his hand, “I’ll sell it, and his skaa, I have no interest in living out here in the middle of nowhere. His skaa are still alive?”

“Most of them”, the guard replied, “Lord Hudson’s steward has the exact numbers for you. You’re planning to sell all of this…?”

“Yes”, North gave back, following the guard into the mansion, looking around and sneering, “as I said, I have no interest in living out here. How my dear cousin could stand it here, I will never know. Where is the body? You kept it as I said, yes?”

“We did”, the guard replied, holding back the urge to grimace as none of them knew why the Lord had wanted this, but they all had known better than to talk back, “down in the cellars, where his body wouldn’t… go bad. You want to look at it right away?”

“Take me there”, North commanded in response, the guard nodding respectfully before he started leading the way; and as they walked, the new lord of the mansion demanded to hear exactly what had happened the night of Lord Hudson’s death, the guard shrugging before he responded, keeping his gaze away from the new lord’s face as they walked.

“I wasn’t there, my Lord, I only was told about it”, he said, keeping his eyes straight ahead – Lord Hudson had never liked it when the guards had looked him in the eyes, and he figured that this new lord wasn’t any different, “and the guards who were there were quite… confused about what happened. Lord Hudson had one of the skaa women brought to his chambers, and when the guards outside heard him scream, they came running, only to find him dead.”

“You were smart to send the Thug to me at once”, North told him, making him shrug again, the explanation he gave making the lord raise an eyebrow.

“Lord Hudson often worried that rival Houses might go after him”, the guard said, grabbing a torch to light the way as they walked down into the cellar, Rowan keeping the fact that he wouldn’t have needed extra light to himself, not wanting to reveal too much of himself to a random guard, “so he told us that, if he dies in strange circumstances or very unexpected, we’re to send a runner to you at once, and to not bury him. And, well… his death was strange and unexpected.”

“You did well”, North reassured him, not missing the brief relieved smile – the guards weren’t skaa, and in no danger of getting killed, but still their future had been uncertain, with their lord dead, and at least this guard now figured that he had a chance for a good life, “I shall keep this in mind once I sell this mansion and the plantations.”

“Thank you, my Lord”, the guard said, bowing a bit; then, he stopped in front of a door and let Rowan know that the body was in there, making him nod before he pushed the door open and entered, the guard following closely with the torch held up high, filling the room with a somewhat eerie, flickering light.

Lord Hudson’s body laid on a table, undressed except for a small cloth covering his groin, his men having provided him with some modesty even in death; Rowan noted this down as a point in their favour, clucking his tongue as he walked around the table and looked at the wound, raising an eyebrow at the glint of metal he could see deep within it.

“Tell me”, he said, looking up at the guard again, “was this like that when you found his body? With the… metal in there?”

“Yes, my Lord”, the guard reassured him at once, “we only removed his clothing, changed nothing else. The metal you can see seems to be his belt buckle, his belt was all torn when we found him.”

“I see”, Rowan replied, bending down for another close look, “has anyone else been told about this? Anyone from nobility?”

“No, my Lord”, the guard said, to his well hidden relief, “we just sent for you at once, and the guards who had seen it were instructed not to speak of it to anyone.”

“Very good”, Rowan nodded, satisfied by this; if any of the guards had blabbed, he’d find out, he knew, and could take the necessary steps, but for now, he’d be content with the knowledge that no one but his dead cousin’s closest guards knew about this, “you did well. Tell me, do you know anything about Allomancy?”

“Not much, my Lord”, the guard said, looking worried again now, “just… myths and legends, like most. Why do you ask?”

“No reason”, Rowan replied, studying the belt buckle again, “you’re dismissed. Leave the torch.”

“As you wish, my Lord”, the guard replied, bowing once again before he retreated; and the moment he was gone, Rowan smiled to himself, then dug into the dead man’s body, until he could pull the buckle out, clucking his tongue again at how deep inside him it actually had been.

_Yes,_ he thought to himself, _this is a very interesting development indeed._

He smiled again as he studied the buckle, his mind running with the possibilities, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the one who had accomplished this.

* * *

 

“Tadaaa”, Holtzmann let out theatrically as she upended the bag over the kitchen table in their hideout, Patty and Abby cursing as they hurried to catch any stray coins which went bouncing here and there, “a nice haul indeed. Go us, Ladies.”

“It’ll be even nicer if you don’t toss it around”, Patty scolded her, putting the coins she had managed to grab back on the table while Erin picked up a few she had missed and added them back to the pile, “how often have we told you not to do this, Holtzy?”

“Holtzy sorry”, the blonde replied in a bashful tone, making Erin smile a bit without even fully realizing; her smiles came much easier these days, she had noticed, and usually were caused by Holtzmann saying or doing something, and she wondered what this meant as she started making little piles of the coins, not with the intention to count them, but more to keep her hands busy.

She had no idea which coin was worth how much, but it was more money than she ever had seen in her life, with skaa not getting paid, but receiving food and shelter for their work; she tried hard to not appear too fascinated by this wealth as she sorted coins by size and colour, figuring this was a good way to do it, but still the other three could tell how awed she was, Holtzmann smiling at the look on her face.

“You know what”, the blonde said, distracting Erin from the awesomeness of the cash in front of her, “I was planning to go buy new metal vials tomorrow, using some of that money, you want to come?”

“If you don’t mind”, Erin gave back, fighting the urge to fidget – so far, Holtzmann and she only had gone out at night, to practice Allomancy, and the blonde never had taken her along when she had left the warehouse for errands like the one she just had mentioned, “perhaps I should get a look at the city during the day…”

“My thoughts exactly”, Holtzmann nodded, earning another small smile from the redhead, “alright then, tomorrow it is. For now, we should get some sleep, I feel all tired now after all the amazing food we got at Rebecca’s.”

“It was truly amazing”, Erin sighed, looking a bit wistful; Holtzmann smiled at the look on her face and nodded, and both women missed the look Abby and Patty exchanged, not able to see yet what the two already were noticing.


	16. Chapter 16

Once again, Erin was amazed at the softness of her new clothing as she left the warehouse with Holtzmann in the next day; she felt comfortable and well rested and good, but Holtzmann apparently worried about her level of comfort, commenting on the shoes she had as they walked, shaking her head while she remembered that Abby had given them to the redhead, with Erin not having had any of her own.

“We’ll get you some”, she decided, earning a surprised look from the redhead, Erin not quite sure why Holtzmann would want to spend all this money on her, for metal vials and now for shoes, too, “can’t have a Mistborn hopping around with no shoes! Also it’s dangerous, what if you end up landing on glass shards or something? No no, you need shoes.”

“Um, alright”, Erin gave back, not wanting to talk back; Holtzmann grinned at her, then decided that shoes had to be purchased before they’d get the vials, and led the way, Erin following her, looking around in amazement as they walked.

She had seen the city before, but only during the night, at first when Holtzmann had brought her there and then when they had gone out to practice; it had been quiet then, no one around but guards patrolling, the nobles and skaa staying inside once the sun had gone down, made oddly equal by their dislike of the mists, and so, it mostly had been just the two of them, save for a thief or two whom they had encountered during their nightly practice sessions.

Now, during daytime, the city was busy, people moving here and there, nobles and skaa like; there were beggars, Erin noticed, quite a few of them, and Holtzmann handed coins out every now and then, making the redhead wonder how she decided whom she’d give something and whom she ignored… until she noticed a pattern, Holtzmann mostly giving money to children, very young and very old beggars, and not to the ones who looked moderately healthy and strong despite their dirty clothing and skin.

“Those young ones are often thieves, too”, Holtzmann explained in a hushed voice as she noticed Erin watching her closely, “only begging to find their next mark. The little kids and the old ones can’t steal yet or can’t anymore, so…”

Erin nodded, figuring that this made sense; she was touched by this kindness Holtzmann showed to people she effectively didn’t know, but then, she thought to herself, Holtzmann had been just as kind to her back at Lord Hudson’s mansion, having taken her along without knowing her, and willingly having taken the risk that Erin might betray her crew and her to the authorities.

_I’d be dead now if it hadn’t been for her_ , she thought to herself as she followed Holtzmann, her heart suddenly clenching up oddly as she looked at the blonde woman, so small and unassuming in her skaa clothing, but possessing such power, _if she hadn’t happened to be there that night…_

Erin shuddered at the mere thought of what would have happened to her then, remembering all too well how Lord Hudson had been looking at her when he had told her what he would do to her for the next few nights, before he’d tire of her and kill her, just to make sure she wouldn’t give birth to an Allomancer.

She had gotten so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Holtzmann had stopped walking, until she bumped into her; before she could open her mouth though to apologize, Holtzmann was suddenly gripping her arm and pulling her along, with a sudden urgency, and all at once, Erin was afraid, realizing that something had to be very wrong for Holtzmann to act this way.

Then, she saw the creature moving through the crowd up ahead, and her blood froze as her breath got caught in her throat.

It had been a man, she thought to herself, once upon a time; now, it was something between man and walking nightmare, thick iron spikes protruding from the eye sockets, and as the thing moved its head left and right, as if it still could see, she could see the sharp tips of the spikes poke out of the back of its head.

This kind of injury should kill a person, Erin knew, she had seen men and women die from less; there was no blood though, and the creature was walking upright, not reacting to the skaa shrinking back from it, either not noticing or not caring.

“Don’t look at it”, Holtzmann whispered to her, keeping her own gaze focused on the ground, “just ignore it.”

Erin found it hard to “just ignore” such a creature, but gave her best to do so, staring at her feet and holding her breath; the skaa around them were just as quiet, the only sound being the heavy footsteps of the thing, and she nearly cried when she heard them move away.

Nobody moved or said anything until the footsteps couldn’t be heard anymore; and when Holtzmann let out a heavy breath, and people around them started moving and speaking again, Erin realized that the imminent danger was over – and immediately started to tremble, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

“It’s alright, it’s alright”, she heard Holtzmann mumble, still finding it hard to breathe though, her throat feeling as if someone had tightened a noose around it; she felt Holtzmann rub her back in an attempt to help her calm down, but couldn’t even look up at her, too disturbed and upset by what she just had seen.

Realizing that rubbing her back and talking to her would lead nowhere, Holtzmann glanced around once more to make sure the creature was gone, then burned brass and gently Soothed Erin, taking her fear away; she did so slowly, not wanting to shock her by Soothing her too harshly, and finally, Erin’s breathing began to even out again, sounding more like regular breaths and less like panicked gasping.

“There, there”, Holtzmann said, glad that her Soothing worked, “it’s all good now, it’s gone, you don’t need to be afraid any—”

Erin turned and practically threw her arms around the other woman, hugging her tightly as she buried her face in her shoulder; for a moment, Holtzmann was startled, then hugged her back and just held her, not caring about the skaa around them watching curiously as she held Erin close and tried to give her some comfort.

* * *

“What in the Lord Ruler’s name was that”, Erin asked quite a bit later, once she had calmed down enough to speak about the disturbing creature without slipping back into the fear and panic, “how can it be alive, with those… those spikes? They went through the head!”

“Inquisitor”, Holtzmann gave back, “the Lord Ruler’s bloodhounds. They have some sort of power, not sure if it’s Allomancy or not, but whatever it is, it helps them sniff out mistings and Mistborn among the skaa, if they are unfortunate enough to use Allomancy without a Smoker around.”

“You were burning copper, right”, Erin wanted to know, panicking a bit again at the thought of this creature noticing Holtzmann and her; the blonde reassured her she had, and that made her feel a bit better, but still she felt shaken up, not wanting to imagine what the Inquisitors did to skaa mistings and Mistborn they managed to catch.

“No worries”, Holtzmann told her, smiling at her as she reached out and placed a comforting hand on her back, “once you got better at burning metals, you’ll be able to burn more than one metal at a time with ease, then you can keep your copper on all the time and hide yourself. As a Mistborn, we have a very good chance to not ever be caught by them.”

Holtzmann hadn’t given her a guarantee that she never would be caught, Erin noticed, and for a moment, she was afraid again, and seriously considered running away, back to the mansion, or to some other Lord who would take her in and let her work on the fields for him, let her go back to the life she had known and had resigned to… before she pushed these fears and thoughts aside, and told herself that this wouldn’t be right, that she had to make use of her powers and not let them go to waste like this, and that she couldn’t disappoint Holtzmann and the others like that.

And so, when Holtzmann asked her if she was ready to go on, or if she needed a few more minutes to calm down, she told her that it was fine and that they could continue their errands; the somewhat proud smile Holtzmann gave her in response made her feel oddly warm and tingly inside, and she smiled back as they continued walking, telling herself that she could do this and that she would be strong enough, no matter which other unpleasant surprises the city might throw at them.


	17. Chapter 17

Holtzmann had realized quickly that Erin wouldn’t feel comfortable practicing in the city that night, after the Inquisitor they had seen, no matter if she reassured her that she was burning copper or not; and so, she suggested that they should train outside the city that night, in the forest close to it, the relief Erin couldn’t quite hide showing her it had been the right decision to make.

“The trees are good for practicing”, she told her as they walked together after having used coins to jump the wall at an unguarded spot, “so you can learn how to avoid obstacles during jumping, we didn’t really do that so far. And practice burning more than one metal at once, I suggest you burn pewter too, just in case you mess up and hit a tree.”

Erin gaped at her, clearly alarmed at the thought of hitting a tree mid-jump, and Holtzmann reassured her that with pewter, it would be okay; then, she frowned to herself as she realized how this sounded and cleared her throat, looking and sounding a bit sheepish as she corrected herself.

“Well, maybe try not to hit a tree at full speed”, she suggested, Erin still looking worried, “pewter will make it hurt less and will keep you on your feet even if you get hurt, but it doesn’t make you invincible. But! Just like when we started practicing, I’ll try my best to make sure you won’t get hurt, okay?”

“Alright”, Erin gave back, still a bit worried; Holtzmann gave her another smile, then told her she’d go first so Erin would be able to watch how she did it, tossing a coin down and Pushing against it at an angle, Erin watching with a bit of unease how she shot upwards, towards the trees.

Burning pewter, she pushed off the nearest tree with her feet, hard enough to make it tremble visibly, changing the direction of her jump; she threw down another coin and used it to Push herself further, Erin feeling a bit calmer as she watched her, even impressed when Holtzmann threw a coin against a trunk and used her steel to Push it against the wood, flying backwards horizontally when the coin hit the tree, using pewter again to push off another one, hard enough this time to make the wood crack audibly.

Oddly eager to impress Erin, Holtzmann pulled off a few more daring jumps like the one with the coin against the tree, until she threw one down close to the redhead and used it lower herself slowly; she landed with barely a thud and smiled at Erin, making her gulp noticeably when she asked her if she was ready to try now.

“I’m not sure”, Erin honestly gave back, eying the trees with trepidation, “you’re really good at this, this was impressive to watch… I’m kinda… worried I’ll end up hitting a tree face first.”

“You won’t”, Holtzmann reassured her, “I’ll look out for you, I promise. I’ll be right there next to you.”

Bravely, Erin made herself nod, telling herself she could do this; she took in a deep breath, then tossed down a coin and Pushed off at an angle, like she had seen Holtzmann do, remembering to burn pewter in the last moment so she could push off a tree with her feet just as the blonde had, now glad that they had bought shoes for her, not wanting to imagine how it might have felt to do this with bare feet.

She did well, for about four trees, jumping from one to the next… until she misjudged the angle when she threw down another coin and shot towards the tree faster than she had expected, yelping in fear as she realized she was about to hit it, a flash of blonde shooting past her a second later though, Holtzmann managing to positioning herself between the tree and Erin and cushioning the impact, grunting when Erin’s body hit hers and she got slammed into the tree.

Erin gasped at the sound of pain from the blonde, but before she could do more, Holtzmann wrapped both arms around her and used a quickly thrown coin to lower them both to the ground slowly; once they stood safely, Erin turned to look at her, feeling bad when she saw Holtzmann rub her back and grimace a bit, the impact clearly having been painful despite the pewter she certainly had been burning.

“I’m so sorry”, Erin said before Holtzmann had the chance to speak up, wringing her hands, unwillingly flashing back to times when she had been forced to apologize to the Overseers and how they had reacted, “I didn’t mean to… Holtzmann I’m sorry…”

“Eh, I’m good”, Holtzmann told her, the ease with which she forgave her making Erin gape at her – the Overseers had reacted much harsher to much smaller slights, real or imagined, “pewter works wonders when one takes a hit, believe me. You’ll see for yourself, when…”

She trailed off and frowned, Erin having a second to wonder if she had changed her mind and would get mad at her after all; instead of yelling at her for getting her hurt, Holtzmann lowered her voice as she told her to burn tin, and Erin did so, at first not quite sure what the blonde was expecting, then hearing what had made Holtzmann trail off – the soft clinking of armour, murmuring voices, footsteps in the distance.

“What…?” she had time to say, then Holtzmann asked her to follow her, dropped a coin and Pushed off into the trees; Erin hurried to keep up, not moving quite as elegantly through the air as Holtzmann, but managing to stay close to her, until the blonde stopped on an especially high tree, hunkering on one of the branches like an absurd sort of bird, Erin ending up on another branch slightly below her, holding on tight to the tree, not wanting to fall, even with her pewter burning and apparently helping her to handle all sorts of injuries.

“Over there”, Holtzmann whispered, pointing; tin helped Erin see, and she quickly spotted the group of skaa, men and women bound together with lengths of rough rope, a group of soldiers around them, guarding them and urging them on, beating them with wooden clubs when they slowed down or stumbled.

“Where are they taking them”, Erin whispered, shocked at seeing these soldiers lead their captives around in the night, knowing all too well how skaa usually avoided it to go outside after the sun had gone down, “and why at this time?”

“To the Pits”, Holtzmann softly replied, and Erin felt her heart clench up, “they always take them there at night. So nobody will happen to come by and see the route they are taking.”

“We have to help them”, Erin said before she could stop herself, Holtzmann looking at her in surprise, “Holtzmann, please, we can’t just… they’ll never come back from there, I know they won’t. They took my mother there and…”

She trailed off and fell silent, not sure how to explain, how much it had hurt that one day, her mother had been there and gone in the next; clearly, Holtzmann understood even without her explaining in great detail though, her gaze thoughtful when she looked back at the group, the soldiers and captives completely unaware that two Mistborn were watching them.

“You’re right”, she said, Erin looking at her again, “nobody ever comes back from the Pits of Hathsin. So we won’t let those poor souls get there. You got your pewter burning? You’ll need it.”

Erin nodded, Holtzmann taking a moment to give her a smirk – before she dropped a coin and shot off, towards the group, Erin following closely behind her, feeling her heart race in her chest with an odd mixture of fear and excitement.

It was going to be a real fight, she knew, against trained soldiers, not some thieving thugs like those they had encountered during their nightly training in the city; she was determined to help those unfortunate skaa though, and so, she pushed her fear aside, for a moment feeling regret about the fact that not even a Mistborn could use Soothing on their own emotions, but only on those of others.

_You can do this_ , she told herself, setting her jaw in determination, _you can help those people, this is what your powers should be used for._

Up ahead, Holtzmann apparently had opted for the dramatic entrance, Pushing off another coin at an angle so that she shot up into the sky – and then came down right in the middle of the shocked group, landing with an impressive _thud_ , and immediately Pushing outwards at against all the breastplates she could sense, soldiers crying out as they were flung aside.

Several of them quickly came back to their feet, faster than Erin would have liked, and apparently, they were prepared to fight Mistborn, as they pulled glass daggers from leather sheathes at their belts and used them to quickly cut off their metal breastplates; this didn’t mean that the armour became useless though, Erin Pulling one of them towards her, then Pushing against it, slamming it into the face of a man and sending him sprawling again.

She heard Holtzmann cheer at that move, and repeated it, taking another man down; when she tried for a third time though, the soldiers had realized what she was doing and her target ducked, only to get hit in the back of the head when Erin Pulled the breastplate back, taking him out, as well.

“Mistborn!” one of the few guards left standing shouted, Holtzmann cackling at how long it had taken him to catch up; she didn’t give him the chance to say much more, pewter allowing her to rush him faster than it should have been humanly possible, her punch actually sending him flying, and once he had hit the ground, he remained motionless.

Holtzmann was quite the striking figure, Erin had a moment to realize, with her cloak fluttering dramatically in the wind when she went for another soldier; then, one of the men came for her, apparently deciding she was an easier target, and without thinking much of it, she yanked a fistful of coins from her pouch, Pushing against them all at once and sending a spray of coins at the man at tremendous speed, too fast to let him dodge, the guard crying out when the metal dug into his flesh and he fell.

This left only one guard standing, and Holtzmann took care of him quickly and swiftly, dodging his clumsy hit with the help of pewter before she returned a blow of her own and sent him flying; and just like that, it was over, the guards groaning on the ground, the skaa standing and staring, clearly shell-shocked after this unexpected rescue.

Holtzmann found one of the daggers the guards had dropped, using them to free the skaa from the ropes binding them; and then, she told them to run, as fast and as far as they could, to find refuge somewhere far from the city and these woods, to Erin’s amazement blushing visibly when the men and women thanked both of them profusely.

“Stop thanking me and run”, Holtzmann told them when she started feeling too embarrassed, Rioting their need to get away to make them do so; despite her efforts, they still took another moment to thank her again, then finally took her advice and ran, Holtzmann quite relieved when they vanished in the distance.

“Alright”, she then said, grimacing as she knew what had to come next, “now comes the unpleasant part. We can’t just let them walk away, but I don’t want to murder them all, either, so we’ll have to Riot them, make them run off, too. Are you ready?”

Erin nodded, taking in a deep breath before she focused on the nearest man; together with Holtzmann, she Rioted one after the other, heightening their fear after how easily they had been taken down and their pain, encouraging them to get far, far away from this place and to never come back, amazed at how fast they reacted to her powers and accepted her rather blunt work on their emotions.

Holtzmann took care of her share of the men, sending them into the opposite direction of the way the skaa had gone; and together with Erin, the blonde made the soldiers all run off in fear and panic, not one of them looking back, Holtzmann hoping that this hadn’t been a mistake, but not having the heart to kill these men in cold blood, and quite glad to realize that Erin didn’t, either.


	18. Chapter 18

“Well, that was a first”, Holtzmann said once the last soldier was out of sight, turning to look at Erin, “we never did anything like that before, you know. We’re just thieves, not heroes.”

“Thank you for agreeing to this”, Erin gave back as they got moving again, as an afterthought using iron to Pull all the coins she could sense back into her hand, momentarily feeling bad about the ones which were still stuck in the body of the soldier she had hit with a fistful of money, “I couldn’t have done it on my own, but I couldn’t have just let them take these poor people there, either.”

Holtzmann just nodded, understanding Erin’s feelings about the whole situation, after what the redhead had revealed about her mother; she herself never had lost anyone to the Pits, but knew that being sent there meant certain death, and knew that Erin and she had done the right thing when they had freed the skaa, even though she was all too aware that this might have dire consequences down the line, should any of the skaa get recaptured or should one of the soldiers go back to the city after all.

Shrugging those worries off for now, Holtzmann told herself they could worry about this when it’d happen, if it ever did; one look at Erin told her that it had been worth taking the risk, the way her eyes were sparkling now and the small smile which curled her lips, the redhead looking happier than she had ever since Holtzmann had taken her along from Lord Hudson’s mansion.

Erin gave her another smile, then reached out and briefly touched her arm, making Holtzmann smile as well; then, to her amusement, Erin let out a hearty yawn, looking a bit guilty afterwards, clearly not sure what to think about suddenly being so tired while Holtzmann still looked as fresh and fit as she had when they had left the warehouse.

“Burn pewter again”, Holtzmann advised, handing one of the vials she had brought along to Erin, the redhead nodding before she downed it, “and keep it burning until we’re back at the warehouse, it’ll keep tiredness at bay. You want to walk, or travel Mistborn-style?”

“Well, I just drank down steel and iron”, Erin gave back, making the blonde grin, “and it’d be wasteful to not use it now, so…”

“A woman after my own heart”, Holtzmann said, Erin somewhat surprised to find herself blush in response; she hoped that the dark was hiding said blush, but judging from how Holtzmann winked and grinned at her, she wasn’t quite sure it had, only feeling her cheeks grow hotter in response.

To her relief, Holtzmann didn’t make any comments though, but simply nodded, then threw down a coin and shot off into the night; and Erin followed her at once, moving along much easier now, feeling much more confident than she ever had before, knowing that Holtzmann and she had done a good thing when they had freed those captives, this knowledge giving her a confidence a boost she had never quite experienced before.

* * *

Once they had made it back to the warehouse, Erin burned all her metals at once, remembering well that she wasn’t supposed to go to sleep with any still left in her system; Holtzmann hurried off to the Lord Ruler knew where, leaving Erin a bit dumbfounded and wondering if she had done or said something wrong, but before she could ponder this further, Abby appeared and asked her how practice had gone.

“Good”, Erin gave back, smiling proudly, “Holtzmann and I practiced jumping amongst the trees at first, then… um…”

She trailed off as she realized that perhaps, telling what they had done wasn’t smart, after the comment Holtzmann had made about how the group was just thieving and not helping captives of the Lord Ruler; and so, she lamely finished with “and then we practiced using pewter”, feeling bad for keeping this information from Abby, but not sure how she would react, and not wanting to risk her ire, not when Holtzmann wasn’t nearby to explain better than she ever could.

She felt bad about keeping this from Abby, but was too worried about how the other woman might react; to her relief though, Abby didn’t question her, but simply smiled and nodded, then got distracted by something behind Erin, the way her smile widened and her eyes lit up prompting Erin to get curious too and to turn to see what was happening.

As it turned out, it was Holtzmann, the blonde coming bouncing down the hallway, carrying a bundle of cloth in her arms; she grinned at Erin, then stopped in front of her and shook out the bundle with a bit more drama than perhaps necessary, Erin gaping when she realized it was a cloak like the one Holtzmann was wearing whenever they went out at night.

“Dearest Erin”, she started, making the redhead gasped as she couldn’t believe this was happening, “you’re learning so fast, faster than I’ve ever seen anyone learn, as you proved today. So you’ve more than earned this – your very own Mistborn cloak. It might not fit perfectly but we can tailor it.”

She held the garment out to Erin, the redhead barely daring to touch it, overwhelmed by having something so amazing just being gifted to her; finally, she did dare to reach out, and ran her fingers over the fabric, amazed at how soft it was, softer even than the new clothes Holtzmann had purchased for her.

“This is”, she started, then realized how rough her voice sounded and had to clear her throat before she could try again, “Holtzmann, this is amazing, thank you so much…”

“You earned it”, Holtzmann repeated, “so nothing to thank me for. Seriously Er, you’re learning so fast, it’s amazing. Here, let me…”

She stepped closer and hung the cloak over Erin’s shoulders, the redhead amazed at how little it weighed, it was as if it wasn’t even there; and then, she realized how gentle Holtzmann was she fastened it to her collar, her hands brushing her throat and jaw as she did so, the touch sending odd shivers up and down her spine.

As it turned out, it fit perfectly, just the right size to reach her ankles and to hide her arms and chest when she stood with her arms at her sides; Holtzmann nodded in satisfaction, then pointed out the little pockets sewn into it, for storing vials, enough of them to keep her going for several nights in a row.

“I suggest you don’t put coins in there”, Holtzmann advised, Erin feeling dismayed when she took a step back again, even though she wasn’t quite sure why she felt this way, “they’d weigh the cloak down, keep them in the pouch tied to your belt.”

Erin nodded at once, figuring that this made sense and that Holtzmann after all knew what she was talking about; the blonde smiled at her, Abby clapping her hands in delight at the sight of Erin in the cloak, commenting on how good it made her look.

“No one will dare mess with you as long as you wear this”, she added, Holtzmann grinning and nodding, “so if you decide to leave from here and set out on your own, you’ll be safe just wearing that.”

“I don’t want to leave”, Erin gave back, smiling at the way Abby beamed at her in response, clearly happy to hear this, “I, um… I’d like to stay here with you guys. And help you. If you’ll let me.”

“Well, we can always need another Mistborn on the crew”, Holtzmann said, making Abby nod at once, “but you don’t have to, alright? And I… we don’t want you to feel like you have to."

“I want to”, Erin replied, managing to sound quite firm, despite the hint of fear she felt at the mere thought of going on a burglary with Holtzmann and the others, “I want to pay you back for all you did for me. So… if I can help in any way…”

“I’m sure there’ll be things you can do to help”, Abby said, smiling and making Holtzmann nod; Erin shyly smiled back at them, then ran her fingers over the cloak once more, amazed at how soft the material was, missing how Holtzmann watched her, and missing how Abby looked at Holtzmann as the blonde kept her gaze on Erin, raising an eyebrow, but not saying anything, already able to tell though what this look from Holtzmann meant.


	19. Chapter 19

“I have the perfect plan”, Holtzmann announced a few days later, days during which Erin had learned more about her powers – also about the ones which weren’t as visible as burning steel and iron, Patty having taught her more about Soothing and Abby sharing her Smoker wisdom with her, “and Erin, if you’re still up to help, there’s a part for you, too.”

“I am”, Erin gave back at once, glad that she’d be given a chance to be useful – when she hadn’t been practicing her Allomancy, she’d kept herself busy cleaning the warehouse the past few days, and with mending the clothes of the three other women, to their surprise, “just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

“Girl, no”, Patty said at once, shaking her head empathically and making Erin look at her in surprise while Holtzmann snickered, “don’t ever say that to Holtzy, you’ll end up with some horrible thing to do. I once said that and I ended up crawling through the sewers because the Lord we’d hit had a secret entrance to his mansion from there! I couldn’t get the smell out of my nose for days.”

“Okay”, Erin gave back, Holtzmann still grinning, “please don’t ask me to do that, Holtzmann.”

“I won’t”, Holtzmann promised her, earning a relieved smile, “but, well… the part I had in mind for you does involve getting into our target’s mansion, undercover, so to speak.”

“Holtzmann”, Abby said warningly, Erin feeling confused again at the tone of the other woman’s voice, “you better not be thinking what I suspect you’re thinking. Seriously? After all she’s been through?”

“Um?” Erin let out, while Holtzmann looked a bit bashful, scratching the back of her head before she shrugged, then gave the redhead an apologetic look, only confusing her more.

“It was just an idea”, she then defended herself, while Erin still had no idea what they were talking about, “and she doesn’t have to do it if she doesn’t want you, you know that, Erin, right?”

“She mended the holes in your nasty old socks”, Patty pointed out, “she won’t say no to your wild ideas.”

“What ideas”, Erin wanted to know, too curious now to remain quiet, “I don’t even know what you guys are talking about. Holtzmann?”

“She wants to get you in the household as a servant”, Patty answered before Holtzmann had the chance to actually say something, “so you can let us in when the time is right.”

“Okay”, Erin gave back at once, not appearing all too bothered by the thought, “I can do that, no problem. I won’t even have to act to be convincing as a servant, you know, that’s a good idea, Holtzmann.”

“Seeeeee”, Holtzmann cried in triumph, making Erin giggle a bit at the way the blonde grinned at the other two, “she doesn’t mind, I had a good idea. All my ideas are good, you two should stop doubting me.”

“Most of your ideas are good”, Abby corrected, “and Erin, you’re really fine with this? Again, you don’t have to do this. We’ll make sure you won’t have to be there for long, two days at the most, but you know that a lot can happen to a skaa woman during two days.”

“I’m Mistborn”, Erin reminded her, Holtzmann grinning proudly at the self-confidence with which Erin said this, so different to the frightened woman she had rescued from Lord Hudson’s mansion, “if I have to, I’ll be able to defend myself. You’ll make sure I’ll have metals, right?”

“Of course”, Holtzmann nodded at once, making the redhead smile a bit, “come on, I wouldn’t let you go on there without metals. You’ll have enough vials, I promise.”

“Then I’ll do it”, Erin said, earning another grin from the blonde, Abby and Patty apparently accepting her decision now as they both nodded, as well, “it’s the least I can do after all you guys have done for me. Just tell me what exactly I should do.”

“It’s not difficult”, Holtzmann reassured her, unrolling a large piece of paper on the table, Erin a bit amazed to see it was a detailed plan of the mansion they were planning to hit, “just look, here are the kitchens, and here…”

She kept talking, and Erin gave her best to listen, finding it a bit difficult though, for Holtzmann was quite close to her now during her explanation, close enough that Erin could smell her; and she smelled quite good, the redhead had to admit to herself, a scent she associated with comfort and safety, and she wondered what these strange feelings meant and where they might lead.

* * *

As it turned out, the noble the crew was planning to rob apparently always could need new people to work for him; Erin didn’t want to think about what this implied for how he treated his skaa as she was brought to his mansion, one of Rebecca’s employees having acted as middle man for fake-selling her to the man.

They had made sure that she looked as skaa as possible, had found some old, threadbare clothing for her to wear and had made sure she was appropriately dirty; and even though this painfully reminded her of the life she’d led before Holtzmann had entered it so spectacularly, she felt confident and not afraid as she followed the man to the noble’s mansion, one of several new skaa he had purchased for his household.

The man who had sold her had praised her quite convincingly as an excellent cook, and so, it was no surprise that she ended up at the kitchen, exactly as it had been planned; she had no way to get a message to Holtzmann and the others, but it had been agreed that she would open the secret entrance for them in the next night, so she’d have some time to actually locate it, make sure it was where it was supposed to be according to the plans Holtzmann had gotten the Lord Ruler knew where, and have time to plan making her way there without getting caught.

Thankfully, neither the nobleman himself, nor the skaa already working in the kitchen apparently had any suspicions that Erin wasn’t the harmless worker she had been sold as; just to be on the safe side though, she Soothed people whenever she had the chance, helping them along about ignoring her and not paying any attention to her, glad that she seemed skilled enough already to pull this off without actually causing suspicion.

And so, thanks to her subtle Soothing, she had more than enough time to prepare her part of the coup; she found the secret entrance, which was just where Holtzmann had said it would be, and by the time night approached, she was ready to sneak there and open it for them.

Still she planned carefully, Soothing the two skaa manning the kitchen at night, making them feel bored and tired enough so they dozed off; and once they were snoring audibly, she snuck past them, to the storage room where the secret entrance was located.  

The door opened fairly easily, and Erin figured that this made sense, seeing that the hidden doorway and the tunnel it led to had been built as an easy escape for the lord, should it ever be necessary; now though, it was used for the exact opposite, as Holtzmann, Abby and Patty were waiting right behind the door, Holtzmann grinning happily at her as she opened it, Erin smiling back it, knowing that she had done well just from the look on the blonde’s face.


	20. Chapter 20

“Good job”, Holtzmann whispered as they passed the sleeping skaa, eying them curiously, “knock out or Soothing?”

“Soothing”, Erin gave back at once, indignant at the thought of knocking two innocent people out like that, “of course. I just made their boredom and tiredness bigger, it was quite easy.”

She missed the look Patty shot her, and the glance Holtzmann and Patty exchanged afterwards, as she was busy telling them what she had learned about the mansion’s routine during the short time she had been there; Holtzmann was impressed at the fact that she had memorized the paths the guards took, and with Erin’s guidance, they easily made it to the Lord’s private chambers, without being discovered.

“You’re right”, Erin whispered to them as they walked, having taken the lead as she knew the interior better than any of the other three, “he’s at the ball tonight, just as you said he would be. We still better be fast though, I tried to find out what I could, but I’m not sure about the cleaning schedule of his personal staff.”

“Girl, you’ve only been here for two days”, Patty reminded her, smiling, “you’ve learned more about this place than any of us would have had any right to expect. You did great.”

Erin blushed and smiled, happy about the praise; then, they reached the Lord’s chambers, and glanced around before entering, making sure nobody saw them, Holtzmann rubbing her hands as she looked around at the expensive furniture and the decorations made of gold and silver, a fortune visible at the first glance already.

Rubbing her hands, she grinned, only to sigh when Abby reminded her that they couldn’t take everything they saw; they had to choose, not having unlimited space in the bags they had brought, and after a sigh and a nod from Holtzmann, they started stuffing things into said bags, Erin leaving this part of the burglary to them, figuring they knew what to look for – to her, it all looked amazing and valuable, and she was sure she’d grab worthless baubles too, should she try to choose something.

So, she stayed close to the door, and listened, figuring she might as well make herself useful by making sure no one would end up wandering in on them; to her relief, she heard no one approach, and clearly, the three women knew exactly what they were doing, working fast and quietly, Holtzmann using her powers to find the man’s hidden safe and open it, grinning at the wealth of coins and jewels she found within. 

She rubbed her hands, then started moving the money and jewels into her bag; and when she had emptied half of the safe, she gasped, the others turning to look at her, worried about booby traps, not quite sure what to think when they saw Holtzmann hold up a small velvet bag and peer into it, eyes wide in amazement.

“Atium”, she whispered as she looked up at the others again, “six beads of the stuff! Jackpot!”

Erin had no idea what atium was and what it did, but it seemed to be something very good, as Abby and Patty let out noises of appreciation; quickly, Holtzmann pocketed the little bag, then moved the rest of the safe’s contents into the larger bag she used for the loot, swinging it onto her back once she was done.

“Ready?” she asked, making the others nod; Patty took another look around the room, then led the way, ready to Soothe anyone who might see them to sleep, the other three following her as silently as possible, all of them glad when they made it back to the secret exit without incident and could leave the mansion together.

* * *

Once outside, the four of them split up, knowing they’d be less noticeable if they didn’t walk as a group; Abby and Patty went one way and Holtzmann asked Erin to come with her, Erin quite glad about this setup, enjoying it to spend time with Holtzmann, even if it meant sneaking around after a burglary.

“This worked out really well, didn’t it”, she said as they walked together, for once using the streets and not bouncing through the night, probably to avoid their stolen goods clanking loudly in their bags, “just as planned. Do your plans always go so well?”

“Most of the time”, Holtzmann gave back, sounding proud, “especially since I started working with Abby and Patty. I used to be way more reckless, you know, they showed me the benefits of proper planning.”

Erin smiled at that and nodded, able to imagine reckless Holtzmann quite well; the blonde grinned back at her and winked, then patted her pocket, eyes sparkling when she continued.

“And the little bonus we found it an extra plus”, she let Erin know, making her wonder yet again what atium was, but she figured she’d be told sooner or later, an assumption Holtzmann confirmed with what she said next, “next time we’re practising outside of town, I’ll show you. I’d rather not use it here in the city, better no one knows we have it.”

Erin nodded again, even though she wasn’t quite sure she understood what Holtzmann was talking about; shrugging it off for now though, she just kept following her, burning tin to make sure no one was following them, relieved when they arrived at the warehouse without anyone crying out that they were thieves and had to be stopped.

“There we go”, Holtzmann said as she dumped the contents of her bag onto the table, then added the little velvet bag from her pocket, then grabbed a few of the coins and putting them in her pocket, “now, want to go out with me and celebrate? I know a guy who can sell us good wine for little money.”

“Um, sure”, Erin gave back, enjoying the thought of spending even more time with the blonde, “but shouldn’t we wait for Abby and Patty?”

“Nah”, Holtzmann told her, making her frown, “I tend to get bouncy with Mistborn power after a glass or two, and that annoys them, so I usually do that part of the celebration alone. But now I have another Mistborn to bounce with me, so! Wanna come?”

“Sure”, Erin said, making the blonde grin happily again, “even though I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up with you when you get… bouncy.”

“Nah, you’ll keep up easily”, Holtzmann told her, already leading the way towards the exit, clearly eager to get moving again quickly, “you’re very talented, Erin, you learn faster than any other Allomancer I’ve encountered. It’s really quite impressive.”

“Oh”, Erin let out, blushing a bit again; Holtzmann smiled at her, then downed a vial of metals, prompting Erin to do the same, the redhead hoping that she indeed would be able to keep up when Holtzmann threw down a coin and jumped off into the night.

Hurriedly, she followed her, Pushing against the coin so she jumped at an angle, like Holtzmann had done; and to her relief, she did manage to keep up with the younger woman fairly well, even though she wondered if she’d be capable of this once Holtzmann had had a bit of wine, after what the blonde had said about getting bouncy then.

Thanks to their jumping over the rooftops, it didn’t take them long to reach the place where Holtzmann intended to buy the wine; it wasn’t a proper store per se, but a man sitting in a dark area of a dingy alley, and while Erin wasn’t quite sure this was a trustworthy setup, Holtzmann seemed to have no such worries, gracefully landing in front of the guy while Erin came down a few feet away, just in case.

Burning tin, she could hear the brief conversation Holtzmann had with the man, and the soft clink of coins as she paid him; she received a bottle and two wooden cups in response, then she dropped another coin and pushed off, Erin following quickly, figuring that the guy would pick it up the moment they were out of sight.

Luckily, he waited to do so until they didn’t need the coin for their Pushing anymore; with wide, but controlled jumps, Holtzmann led the way to one of the city’s higher rooftops, using the metal within it to slow her descent so she wouldn’t land with an audible thump, Erin doing the same, feeling oddly proud at the appreciative look Holtzmann shot her.

“This is one of my favourite spots”, the blonde let her know as she sat down, Erin moving to sit next to her, watching how Holtzmann uncorked the bottle of wine and filled the two cups, “nice view, and the guy living in there doesn’t mind if I walk over his roof every now and then, as long as I repay him with spying for him on other nobles every now and then.”

Erin raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t comment on it, figuring it was just another way for Holtzmann to make money; instead, she smiled as she accepted the cup, then took a careful sip from it, unable to hold back a grimace as the somewhat sour taste hit her tongue, the alcohol burning in her throat when she made herself gulp the wine down.

“Oh wow”, she let out, Holtzmann trying hard to hold back a grin at the look on her face, but failing miserably, “this is… quite strong. I’m not sure it’s for me, I’m not really… used to that…”

“Ah, no worries”, Holtzmann gave back, smirking, Erin pouting at the grin on her face, a rather adorable sight, “I’m not gonna make you drink it if you don’t like it. More for me!”

“Yay”, Erin dryly said, the blonde laughing in reply; after a moment, she smiled as well, then handed her cup to Holtzmann, the younger woman downing both Erin’s and her own with surprising speed.

“Alright”, she then said, corking the bottle and hiding it somewhere beneath her cloak, “no sense in having you sit here while I drink alone. Feel like jumping a bit? Want to play catch?”

“Is that safe?” Erin wanted to know, not quite sure if it was a good idea to have two Mistborn chase each other around the city; Holtzmann shrugged, then nodded, and before Erin could say something else, she Pushed, and shot off the roof, the redhead crying out at her sudden movement.

“Holtzmann!” she then protested as she hurried to burn steel and to follow, “not fair!”

“Catch meeee”, Holtzmann sing-songed in response, and even though she still wasn’t sure this was a good idea, Erin felt the sudden need to do just that; and so, she focused fully on Pushing and Pulling, chasing after the blonde, soon closing the distance between them.

Clearly not having expected this so fast, Holtzmann tried to change course, but Erin realized quickly what she was doing and followed, Pushing off the nails in a nearby window as hard as she could; she accelerated a bit faster than she had planned, but didn’t let fear grip her heart, feeling quite proud again when she managed to grab on to Holtzmann’s cloak a moment later.

The blonde let out an amusingly high pitched squeal, and had a second to try getting away; then, Erin Pulled on the vial of metals Holtzmann kept hidden in one of her cloak’s pockets and yanked her back and into her waiting arms, thinking of Pushing lightly against a source of metal beneath them, so that they ended up floating in the air.

“Impressive”, Holtzmann said, Pushing against the same bit of metal and turning slowly so she was facing the redhead, “I didn’t expect you… to…”

She trailed off as their eyes met, her mouth suddenly oddly dry; Erin was looking back at her with an equally stunned expression, as if she was truly seeing her for the first time, as they hung there, held in their air by their combined powers, the city quiet and dark and still around them.

And then, just when Holtzmann wanted to clear her throat or tried to figure out what she could say to hide how fast her heart suddenly was beating, Erin pulled her even closer and kissed her, and she completely forgot to burn steel, the redhead increasing her efforts when she felt them wobble in the air, not wanting this moment to end by having them fall to the ground.

Holtzmann needed another second to realize what was happening, just long enough for Erin to start worrying that perhaps, this had been the wrong thing to do – for once, she had time to lament, she had acted without thinking, and certainly, this would have unpleasant consequences now – and then Holtzmann was kissing her back, tightened her embrace around her, and all her worries were forgotten at once.

Slowly, she lessened the force of her Push, so that Holtzmann and she gently drifted down to the ground, like leaves on the wind, all without breaking the kiss; only when their feet landed on the ground noiselessly, she pulled apart, unable to hold back a wide smile at how Holtzmann’s eyes sparkled when their eyes met again.

“That”, Holtzmann said, her arms still around the taller woman, “was amazing. Can we do that again?”

Erin could only nod, feeling too happy and relieved to speak; and so, instead of saying something, she pulled Holtzmann close again and kissed her once more, firmly on the ground this time, not doubting now that this had been the right thing to do.


	21. Chapter 21

On the way back to the warehouse, they jumped side by side, holding hands, Erin feeling happier than she had all her life; Holtzmann appeared pretty happy, too, the redhead could tell, grinning widely as she Pushed off whatever metal sources she could find, Erin doing the same, easily keeping herself by the blonde’s side.

They reached the warehouse quickly, and without anyone trying to stop them, or calling out to them; and once they had made it there, they landed almost soundlessly, Holtzmann whistling a happy tune as she strolled inside, finding Patty sitting at a table there and counting money, the woman taking one look at their joined hands and smiling, Erin quite relieved at this reaction.

“Took you long enough”, was all Patty said, focusing on her task again a moment later; Holtzmann shrugged and smirked, then managed to whisper loud enough for Patty to hear, the older woman studiously ignoring her though, even though Erin could see her eyebrow twitch.

“Patty is really good at reading emotions”, Holtzmann let Erin know, glancing at the Soother before she went on, “comes with her allomantic power. Probably guessed I have a thing for you a while ago.”

“One does not need to a be a Soother to have seen this”, Abby piped up as she entered the room, Erin blushing while Holtzmann let out a dismissive “eh” sound, “even I could see this, and I’m usually not good with these things. Congrats, you two.”

“Thanks”, Holtzmann grinned, then pulled the still three quarters full bottle of wine from the depths of her cloak, “I’ll just put this away, then I’ll help you with that counting, Patty.”

Patty let out a vaguely agreeing noise, fully focused on her work again; Holtzmann hopped away to stow the wine in the storage room, and the moment she was out of earshot, Abby turned to look at Erin, smiling at her as she congratulated her again.

“You deserve this”, she then said, Erin blushing a bit as she wasn’t quite sure where this now came from, mumbling words of thanks, “both Holtz and you, you’ve both been through so much. Just… be careful, alright? Don’t get reckless out there, even two Mistborn can be defeated, and I don’t want to see any of you hurt.”

“I’ll try”, Erin gave back, “but, well… Holtzmann can be quite… convincing.”

“Don’t I know it”, Abby replied with a roll of her eyes, making Patty snicker; and just then, Holtzmann came back, and demanded to know what Abby knew, the Smoker giving her a strict look as she told her.

“That you can be reckless and convince others to be, too”, she said, the blonde giving a look of perfect innocence in response, none of the three though buying that, not even Erin, Holtzmann pouting as she realized that her try to appear innocent and angelic had failed, “so I warned Erin to be careful, I don’t want to see you get hurt, which is exactly what I told Erin.”

Erin nodded to that, and Holtzmann’s pout intensified; at this, the redhead couldn’t withstand any longer and let out an “aww” sound, momentarily worried what Abby and Patty might think about a display of affection, then stepping closer to the blonde anyway and wrapping both arms around her, knowing she had made the right choice when both women let out noises of joy at the sight.

“They’re right though and you know it”, Erin then said, just as Holtzmann had stopped pouting; immediately, the pout came back, making Erin giggle, Abby and Patty smiling as well, and after a moment, Holtzmann smiled too, and for a little while, they were all perfectly happy and content, without any worries or fears on the horizon.

* * *

A while later, Holtzmann and Patty had finished counting the coins, and Holtzmann went to find Erin, a bit surprised that the redhead wasn’t in her room – so far, this was where she mostly had gone when she had had time alone, and had kept busy there, practicing her alomancy and mending all their clothes.

Not quite sure where else Erin might be, Holtzmann searched the warehouse, starting at the cellar and moving up until she ended up on the roof; and there, she found Erin, the redhead sitting on the edge and looking up at the night sky, turning her head to look at Holtzmann though when she heard her approach.

“I never knew how beautiful this is”, she said, before Holtzmann could say something, “the sky at night, when one can see through the mists, the way we can, with tin. I almost feel bad for everyone who will never see this… all those twinkling lights…”

“Stars”, Holtzmann told her, moving to sit next to her, both of them looking up at the sky now, “Rebecca told me they’re called stars. She said that many centuries ago, before the Lord Ruler, there was no mist, and that everyone could see the stars at night.”

“No mist?” Erin repeated, surprised, looking at Holtzmann again now, “how could she know? If it was before the Lord Ruler? He’s eternal, immortal…”

“He is”, Holtzmann confirmed, grimacing, not liking this topic of conversation, but figuring that she had steered the talk there herself, with her comment about stars, “and I’m not even sure how Rebecca knows. If she has any forbidden books at her home, I never found them while I was growing up there, but she did gain that knowledge somewhere and didn’t just make it up. She also said that before the Lord Ruler, the sky was blue and plants were green, not the brown we know now, and there was no ash falling from the sky.”

Erin gaped at her, clearly not having expected any of this; feeling a bit bashful, Holtzmann smiled sheepishly and shrugged, then looked up at the sky again, sounding wistful when she continued.

“Perhaps these things are true, wherever she learned them”, she said, smiling at Erin when she felt the redhead grasp her hand, “and one day, they will come back. A world with green plants and a blue sky, how awesome would that be?”

“I can’t even imagine that”, Erin admitted with a frown as she looked up at the sky again, and tried to imagine it in a bright blue instead of the dull mix of grey and red she was used to; Holtzmann shrugged and smiled next to her, the redhead looking at her again a moment later, smiling a bit as well, squeezing her hand as their eyes met.

“But on the other hand”, Erin continued, now running her thumb over the back of Holtzmann’s hand and making her shudder with the gentle touch, “I could never imagine being anything else than a skaa working the fields, and here I am now, a Mistborn with awesome powers. So… who knows?”

“Who knows indeed”, Holtzmann agreed, earning another smile from the redhead – before Erin leaned in for another kiss, forced to hold back a sigh when their lips met and Holtzmann kissed her back at once.

“Not that I don’t enjoy kissing you”, the younger woman said once they had pulled apart again, fidgeting a bit now, oddly reminding Erin of her own mannerisms whenever she got nervous or anxious, “cause I do, really, I enjoy it a lot but… you know you don’t have to do that right? That you don’t… I don’t know, owe me?”

“I know”, Erin gave back, making Holtzmann smile again at once, “and that is not why I kissed you. I kissed you because… when I’m with you, I feel safe. I feel strong, and good, and I like being with you. That is why I kissed you.”

Holtzmann smiled widely in response, then pulled her close for another kiss, and Erin gladly kissed her back, turning a bit so she could wrap both arms around her, once more feeling happier and better about herself and her life than she ever would have dared to hope.


	22. Chapter 22

Early in the next day, just when Erin was making herself useful helping Abby with preparing breakfast, someone knocked the warehouse’s door, and for a moment, she was scared, afraid that they had been found and that they would be taken captive and punished, sent to the Pits for stealing from the noblemen; Abby seemed rather unsurprised and calm though, and so, Erin told herself to keep her calm, as well, feeling relieved when Abby opened the door and it turned out to be Rebecca Gorin, a long cloak with a hood pulled deeply into her face obscuring her features.

“Good morning”, the noblewoman said, entering quickly, not wanting anyone to spot her despite her disguise, and not bothering to waste time with pleasantries, speaking of the reason for her visit immediately, “I hear your latest stunt went well, the nobleman you stole from has been crying about it to anyone who will listen.”

“It did”, Abby confirmed, smiling, then raised her voice and called out to Holtzmann and Patty; the two women came to the room quickly, Holtzmann still rubbing her eyes, hair still wet from her morning cleaning routine, even though she brightened up when she saw who was visiting them.

“Rebeccaaaaa”, she then sing-songed, the way the woman’s eyebrow twitched showing Erin she wasn’t all too happy about being addressed like this, “what brings you to our humble abode?”

“Nothing pleasant, I’m afraid”, Rebecca gave back, prompting Holtzmann to let out an “aw” as she sobered and grew serious, “as I just told Erin and Abby, your latest little… acquisition of items has caused quite the uproar. The nobleman you robbed is foaming at the mouth and complaining to anyone who will listen.”

“Eh”, Holtzmann replied with a shrug, making Rebecca raise an eyebrow this time, “he has no idea who robbed him. We’ll just lay low for a while, we have enough cash now so we don’t need to do any hits for quite some time.”

“Good”, Rebecca said, “and I suggest you also wait with selling the jewels and other valuable items you stole from him, or sell them in another city. He’s sending people to all the known fences and offering them bribes for information when somebody tries to sell his items to them.”

“Aw”, Holtzmann repeated her previous noise of dismay, “but that stuff is worth a lot. And how do you know that, I doubt he’s telling everyone that he’s sending people to illegal fences?!”

“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous”, Rebecca replied, shaking her head, “I have my ways to know such things, as you know. If you do decide to sell them in another city, please make sure that Erin keeps her face hidden until you’re well beyond the town’s borders, your target was smart enough to figure out that his newly bought skaa was involved in the break-in.”

Erin paled at this, momentarily afraid again, already seeing herself working in the Pits as punishment; then, she remembered that they had given a wrong name for her when they had fake-sold her, that the man who had done so was gone, headed off to another town, and that, as long as she would indeed lie low for a while, she’d surely be fine.

_And Holtzmann won’t let anything happen to you_ , she told herself, Holtzmann apparently sensing some of her distress as she moved closer to her and placed one hand on her back, then leaned over to gently kiss her cheek, Rebecca watching the display of affection with another raised eyebrow, not commenting on it though.

“Anyway”, she said instead, “I figured I would drop by here and tell you about this, before you would get the idea to show up at my house so I can sell things for you. The job itself did go smoothly, yes?”

“And how”, Holtzmann replied, giving Erin a look so proud that it made her flush, “Erin was a complete champion, she got us in there so easily and even Soothed the guys working in the kitchen to sleep, so we didn’t need to knock anyone out. In, get the stuff, out, it worked out perfectly.”

“Glad to hear”, Rebecca said, with just the tiniest smile, “so none of you except Erin were seen? That is very good, makes things a bit less dangerous.”

“All thanks to Erin”, Holtzmann emphasized, making Erin blush yet again, “but! Where are my manners, would you like to join us for breakfast? Let us feed you for once?”

 “I appreciate the offer, but I have other errands I need to run”, Rebecca declined, eying the pot Abby had been stirring with trepidation, prompting Erin to suspect that possible errands weren’t the only reason she was declining; she figured that the other three knew this just as well, but were too polite to say anything, and so, kept quiet as well.

“Well, I just wanted to warn you, which I did”, Rebecca said, making the crew nod in perfect unison, “and please, don’t hesitate to contact me in case you do need something. Lay low for a while, you hear?”

“Yes, we will”, Holtzmann reassured her, earning a small, but genuine smile from the older woman; then, Rebecca took her leave, and Holtzmann sighed, forlornly looking up at the ceiling, knowing all too well that for a while, there would be no nightly excursions, no jumping through the mist.

She’d miss it, she knew, but she also knew that Rebecca was right, and that they should lay low for a while, just to be on the safe side; that didn’t mean she had to like the thought though, and she pouted, Erin looking at her in concern.

“Holtzy doesn’t like it to be cooped up inside”, Patty said before Holtzmann had the chance to, “makes her feel all cramped after a few days. Maybe some Mistborn thing, what with how you crazy people jump through the air, do you have the same problem, Erin?”

“I don’t think so”, Erin gave back, frowning, “but then, we never got to spend many days in a row outside, we had to work the fields every day.”

Patty grimaced, realizing it had been somewhat tactless to ask this from a former field working skaa; Erin didn’t seem to mind though, smiling at Holtzmann as she rubbed her back and told her not to worry.

“We’ll find ways to distract you”, she added, only realizing that her words could taken in a rather kinky way when Patty and Abby both raised an eyebrow at her, the way she flushed deeply making the other two women grin.

“Awww”, Holtzmann let out, winking when Erin looked at her and their eyes met; the redhead blushed even deeper, then Holtzmann distracted her with a short, but gentle kiss, smiling to herself as she realized that it truly wouldn’t be so bad to be cooped up at the warehouse for as long as Erin would be with her.

* * *

“Are you going to do what Lady Gorin suggested?” Erin asked quite a while later, back at Holtzmann’s room, “selling the stuff at another city, I mean?”

“Yeah, in a week or so, that should be laying low long enough before leaving town”, Holtzmann gave back, “and you don’t have to call her Lady Gorin, none of us do.”

Erin just shrugged, feeling weird at the mere thought of calling a noblewoman with anything else than her title; thankfully, Holtzmann didn’t press the issue, but changed the topic instead, making Erin gape at her in surprise with her next words.

“Wanna come with me?” the blonde wanted to know, smirking at how Erin stared at her, “it’s gonna be a boring trip all alone, and two Mistborn are better than one.”

“Um, yes, I’d love to”, Erin replied, “but… won’t Abby and Patty mind? I don’t want them to feel like I’m… I don’t know, taking up all of your time…”

“No worries”, Holtzmann gave back, earning a doubtful look, “they’ll be glad they won’t have to come, cause if it’s the two of us, we can travel Mistborn style instead of in a carriage, and I always complain when I have to use a carriage.”

“Oh, alright then”, Erin said, earning a bright grin from the blonde before she pulled her close for a gentle kiss, her dismay about being forced to stay inside lessened now as she knew that in just a few days, she’d travel with Erin, already looking forward to their trip.


	23. Chapter 23

Even though she’d had something to look forward to, the week had been quite long to Holtzmann, and she was more than glad when finally, the day of the trip had come, whistling happily as she hid metal vials in the various pockets of her cloak and handing a fair share of said vials to Erin.

“We’ll only put the cloaks on at night”, she said as she finished her preparations, carefully rolled the cloak up – making Erin wonder if perhaps, it wouldn’t have been better to put the vials in there later, but figuring that Holtzmann knew what she was doing, “would be too noticeable during the day, but at night, they’ll hide us well. Here, take these vials and put them in the pockets of your shirt, just in case.”

She handed two vials to Erin, who thanked her as she put them into the pockets, like Holtzmann had said; even though she was somewhat used to cramped quarters from her life before Holtzmann and the crew, she was glad to get out again, as well, enjoying being out and about even at night much more now that she knew she was Mistborn and learning how to use her powers.

Holtzmann and she had made good use of the week they had been forced to spend inside, training Pushing and Pulling and Holtzmann teaching Erin how to keep her focus on one heightened sense when burning tin, instead of getting distracted by irrelevant loud noise or strong smells; and Patty had taught her more about Soothing, teaching her how to read emotion and how to single out the one she wanted to dampen or even Soothe away completely.

Unlike Patty, as the Soother had reminded her, Erin also was capable of making emotion stronger, something the redhead had done before together with Holtzmann, but in a crude and somewhat harsh way; Patty never had been able to Riot anyone herself, unable to burn more than one metal, but she knew people who could, and had told Erin that it was pretty much the same as Soothing, that it could be done subtle and controlled, without the person it was used on ever noticing what was being done to them.

Patty also had spent some time teaching Erin how to read, to her delight having found out quickly that Erin was a fast learner; she was far from being a fluent, quick reader, after a week of being taught, but she could read slowly, Patty having praised her progress and having complimented her on how smart she obviously was.

Erin wasn’t quite sure if this praise was warranted, but had accepted it, blushing, her blush only having deepened when Holtzmann and Abby had agreed to Patty’s assessment; and so, even though she felt nervous now, at the trip almost about to start, she told herself that she could do this, that she was smart and Mistborn and could handle anything the world might throw at Holtzmann and her with her powers and with Holtzmann by her side.

Clearly, Holtzmann had no concerns about the safety of this trip, whistling happily as she packed up a change of clothes and the jewellery she wanted to sell; the single pieces had been wrapped in cloth to keep them from clinking audibly in the bag, Erin feeling a bit bad when she realized that her own bag only held her cloak and some clothing, Holtzmann having loaded all the stuff to sell into her own.

“You should give some of that to me”, she thus said, gesturing at the bulging bag, “it’s not fair if you carry it all on your own.”

“Nah it’s fine”, Holtzmann gave back, strapping the pack to her back and winking at the redhead, “with pewter, I barely feel it. Ready to go?”

Erin still felt it was unfair, figuring she could burn pewter too and help carry stuff, but not wanting to start a debate; and so, she just nodded, Holtzmann giving her a bright smile, clearly happy to get out of the warehouse.

“See you guys in about a week”, she called out to Abby and Patty as she walked to the door with a spring in her step; both Abby and Patty told them to take care and to not be reckless, Erin reassuring them they would and giving a little wave while Holtzmann was already pulling the door open.

“So eager”, Erin still heard Patty comment, then she stepped outside and the door fell close behind her; she took in a deep breath, only now realizing how much she had missed this, too, just being outside and free to go where she wanted, with no Overseer just waiting for her to make a mistake or maybe just look at him to wrong way so he could beat her.

Holtzmann was whistling happily as she walked, Erin right beside her, clearly feeling as joyful about the trip as Erin herself felt, now that she was out of the warehouse; she stopped when they got close to the city gates though, not wanting to draw any attention, but as it turned out, there was no need to worry, the guards concerned with a nobleman on horseback, his own guards spread out, close to him and to the large group of skaa which apparently had been following him, from wherever he had been coming.

Erin only saw them from the corner of her eye, keeping her gaze straight ahead as Holtzmann led her past the group, none of the city guards paying much attention to them; it was a large group, she could tell even without looking at them properly, and she could tell that they were tired, even more tired than skaa usually were.

She figured that they’d had a long journey, and found herself wondering what would happen to them now, feeling bad for them as she had gotten out of that life and they still were forced to work for uncaring noblemen and –women who’d beat them and even kill them for the smallest offenses; then, a brief thought flashed through her mind – _they didn’t care for you, none of them did –_ and even though she wasn’t quite sure where it had come from, and suppressed it again quickly, she somehow knew it was true, and rigorously forced those feelings of pity aside.

_It’s not like we can do anything to help them anyway_ , she thought to herself as she walked along next to Holtzmann, the blonde taking note of how her mood suddenly had darkened and looking at her in concern, _not so close to the city and all the guards there._

“Erin?” Holtzmann’s voice distracted her from her musings, “you okay?”

“Yes”, Erin gave back, holding back a sigh as she fought the urge to turn and look at the group of skaa, “I just thought… You know, I was like them, not too long ago. I’m just not anymore because of you and… I felt bad, because I got to leave this life, but they didn’t, they still have to work for some lord or other…”

Holtzmann grimaced and nodded, then took hold of Erin’s hand and gave it a tender squeeze, not sure what she could say – they had rescued a few skaa from the Pits, back when they had practiced in the woods, but she knew that those had been nothing, compared to the number of skaa still working as slaves for lords and ladies all over the country, but she also knew that there was nothing they could do, not against someone like the Lord Ruler, who had all of the nobility and their guards and armies behind himself.

Erin was just aware of this as Holtzmann, and so, she just gave her a somewhat sad little smile, Holtzmann’s heart clenching up at the sight; feeling helpless and awkward, Holtzmann gave her hand a small squeeze, glad when Erin smiled a bit more genuine in response, neither of them saying anything else as they kept walking, soon leaving the city behind as they followed the road which would lead them to the other town.


	24. Chapter 24

Just as Holtzmann had anticipated, it took them three days to get to the other town, during which they travelled mostly at night, Mistborn-style as Holtzmann called it, and rested during the day, one of them sleeping while the other kept watch; burning pewter made it easy for them to be alert during keeping watch, Erin amazed to learn yet another advantage being Mistborn granted her.

Holtzmann warned her to not keep the pewter burning all the time though, as nice as the idea sounded, telling her that it could have bad long-term consequences to do that, and adding a horror story about a guy she had known, a misting capable of burning tin, who had burned it day and night without giving his body a rest.

“He ended up having to wear a blindfold during the day cause the light hurt his eyes too much otherwise”, Holtzmann told Erin as they were setting up camp one day, making her gape in shock, not quite having expected this, “and he couldn’t eat anything other than very mild broth because his sense of taste was overwhelmed otherwise.”

“Did he get cured?” Erin wanted to know, shocked, her shock only growing when Holtzmann shook her head and told her that, once it went beyond a certain point, there was no cure, and that it’d even be dangerous then to stop burning the metal, that it could mutilate or even kill the Allomancer in question.

“Poor guy”, Erin felt sympathy, making Holtzmann grimace and nod; Erin almost put out her pewter there and then, then realized that she hadn’t been burning it constantly for the past few days and figured that she would be fine, telling herself that surely, Holtzmann would tell her if she’d start burning it for too long.

“Oh!” Holtzmann let out, distracting her from these thoughts and making her look at the blonde again, “speaking of burning metals though, before I forget. Here.”

She dug through her pockets and pulled out a little velvet bag Erin recognized as the one they had taken from the nobleman’s house; carefully, almost reverently, Holtzmann opened it and reached inside, then pulled out two small beads of metal, grinning as she handed one of them to Erin.

“This is the bonus we got from the nobleman’s house”, Holtzmann said, Erin nodding as she remembered perfectly well, “time to show you how it works.”

She gulped her small bead down with a mouthful of water, then handed the waterskin to Erin so she could do the same; curious, figuring Holtzmann wouldn’t give her a metal which could endanger her in any way, Erin swallowed the bead, too, feeling this new reserve of power just moments later, still amazed at how good it made her feel to sense her powers within her like this.

“Alright”, Holtzmann said, taking the waterskin back and putting it aside, “now start burning that.”

Curious, Erin did so, frowning when nothing seemed to happen – before she saw an odd image of Holtzmann, formed with a strange blue light, overlaying the blonde, Erin nearly flinching back when the figure of light started to move though, leaning towards her, lips pursed for a smooch.

Without thinking about it, she leaned in to return the kiss, and the real Holtzmann followed a moment later, grinning widely; and as they pulled apart again, the mouth of the made-of-light Holtzmann started to move, as if she was talking, the real Holtzmann speaking up just a few seconds later.

“That’s what atium does”, the blonde let her know, “it lets you see a few seconds into the future. Not much, but enough in a fight to make the difference. Unless you fight another Mistborn who has atium to, in which case…”

She fell silent, and all at once, the Holtzmann made of light fanned out, becoming many figures of light, each of them doing something different; Erin went wide-eyed and gasped, Holtzmann smirking at her obvious shock, the light versions of her vanishing again a second later, prompting Erin to extinguish her own atium as well, figuring that it was rare and shouldn’t be used up for practicing.

“A Mistborn burning atium can see the future”, Holtzmann explained, while Erin blinked, trying to wrap her mind around what she just had seen, “so if you fight another Mistborn who burns atium too, all possible outcomes of the situation are shown at once. The atium shows the other Mistborn’s next move, but if they burn atium, too, they will see that you are, and react to that, so the next move changes, you react to that, so _your_ next move changes too, and it goes on like that until it’s just one big mess of atium figures.”

“Then what do you do”, Erin wanted to know, frowning, “when you fight another Mistborn who has atium?”

“You don’t”, Holtzmann simply replied, “atium burns kinda fast, but you can never know how much another Mistborn has, so trying to wait it out might end badly. The best thing if you encounter a Mistborn burning atium is to run, as fast and as far as you can.”

“Did you ever?” Erin asked, finding it quite hard to imagine Holtzmann running from anything, with how confident and secure in her abilities the blonde was, “encounter one who had atium?”

“Luckily not”, Holtzmann let her know, “and I hope I’ll never have to. Thankfully, it’s rare and expensive, the Lord Ruler controls the distribution among the nobles, so finding this during the job was a truly nice surprise.”

Erin nodded her agreement to that, then yawned heartily, the night’s journey taking its toll on her; getting comfortable on the ground, Holtzmann told her she would take the first watch, promising Erin that she would wake her up in time and telling her to get some much-needed rest.

“Sleep well”, she added, Erin smiling and thanking her as she rolled up in her cloak, using her spare shirt as a pillow; for anyone else, it might have been uncomfortable to sleep like this, but Erin was used to sleeping on the bare ground, and so, she fell asleep quickly, Holtzmann burning pewter and tin as she kept watch, making sure nobody would try to ambush them and interrupt their journey.

* * *

On the morning of the fourth day, they arrived at the city at last, walking the last few miles so they wouldn’t be seen by the guards using allomantic jumps; the men guarding the gate seemed not all too interested in them as they approached, clearly none of them thinking that the two women approaching on foot were any sort of danger, one of them asking them in a bored tone what their business in town was.

“Visiting my uncle”, Holtzmann replied at once, “he runs the Three Cup Inn, over by the west gate.”

This answer seemed to satisfy the guard, as he nodded and waved them through, not even bothering to ask who Erin was; curious, Erin glanced around as Holtzmann led the way, walking as if she had been to this place a thousand times before, and perhaps, Erin thought to herself, she had been, whenever her hometown had been too dangerous a place to sell the things Patty, Abby and she had stolen.

“Do you even know the man who runs that inn?” she asked once they were far enough from the gate to make sure the guards couldn’t hear; Holtzmann snickered in reply, then nodded, Erin raising an eyebrow in surprise, not quite having expected this sort of answer.

“He’s not my uncle though”, Holtzmann added as they walked, “just a friend of Rebecca who lets us use his inn whenever we’re here. Which isn’t often, thankfully, cause I think he wouldn’t let us if we ended up here once a month.”

“How nice of him”, Erin gave back, and Holtzmann grinned, then shrugged, letting the redhead know that the inn’s owner knew nothing of the reasons why they came to this town, that they never said anything and that he never asked.

“He just might be surprised I’m bringing something new”, she added as they kept walking, Erin glancing around the town the whole time – it wasn’t as big as the one where she now lived with the crew, but it still impressed her, the busy streets and the numerous little stores.

A few of those, she figured, wouldn’t just be regular stores, but would serve as fences, too, and Holtzmann would end up selling the stolen goods there; she didn’t ask which ones though, figuring this wasn’t a topic to be talked about on the street like this, but kept glancing around instead, once more awed by the sheer size of the town.

“Alright”, Holtzmann distracted her from looking around, “let’s go to that inn, have some proper breakfast, and then we’ll get started with the selling. Are you ready to make some money?”

Erin nodded, the blonde grinning brightly at her before she took her hand and held it as they walked, Erin squeezing it slightly as she enjoyed the feeling of Holtzmann’s fingers curled around hers, looking forward to seeing more of the city.


	25. Chapter 25

After a proper breakfast at the inn, Holtzmann and Erin set out to sell the jewellery, Holtzmann leading the way; she didn’t sell it all to one fence, Erin quickly realized, spreading the goods all over town, and Erin figured that this a smart move, realizing that it might raise suspicion if one fence suddenly had a whole load of things, whereas a few more trinkets and baubles here and there wouldn’t really be noticeable.

They moved from store to store, and Erin was glad that Holtzmann knew what she was doing, realizing that she wouldn’t have had an idea which stores were also fences and which weren’t; they all looked perfectly ordinary, and yet they bought the stolen goods without hesitation, not one of them appearing suspicious or worried about the deals Holtzmann was making with them.

“There”, Holtzmann said as they left yet another store, the bag considerably lighter by now while her coin purse had gotten much fatter, “only one left now, then we got it all sold. Hey, do me a favour and get us some supplies for the trip back? Let’s meet at the inn in about an hour?”

“Sure”, Erin gave back, not quite liking the thought of going on her own, but not wanting to disappointment Holtzmann, either; the blonde beamed at her, then gave her a handful of coins and directions to the nearest store where she could get food and waterskins, ending her instructions with a quick, but gentle kiss.

“See you in an hour”, she then said, Erin smiling bravely and nodding before she turned to find the store Holtzmann had given her directions too; the blonde looked after her until the crowd had swallowed her up, then went to find the last stop of the day, glad that she was almost done with her task, her feet hurting and her body feeling tired.

She felt a bit bad about splitting up like that, but wanting Erin to buy supplies hadn’t been the only reason Holtzmann had asked her to meet her later – she also wanted to get her a gift, and hardly could do that when the two of them were together the whole time, hoping that the redhead hadn’t seen through this when she went to the final store of her little tour.

With the gift in mind, Holtzmann made this store her last stop; officially, it was a book store, as she had taken note of how much Erin enjoyed it when Patty taught her how to read, and she figured that she could get an interesting book or two for the redhead there, perhaps as a trade for the few items she still had left, whistling happily to herself as she entered, the owner brightening up when she saw her.

“Holtzmann!” she said in delight, Holtzmann grinning back at her, “it’s been quite some time! Did the harmless jobs for a bit, huh?”

“Pretty much”, Holtzmann said, putting her bag onto the counter, “but now, we did a more risky one again, so here I am. And I got a special proposition for you today, Rosalie!.”

“You do?” Rosalie wanted to know, raising an eyebrow as she peered at the bag; Holtzmann grinned and nodded while opening it, letting her get a look of the items still inside, Rosalie raising an eyebrow at them, able to tell their worth with just one quick glance.

“What you want for that”, she asked, the blonde grinning again and shrugging, then nodding a the book shelves behind her, Rosalie raising an eyebrow at Holtzmann’s response.

“One or two of those books”, she told the elder woman, “and in return, I’ll only ask for twenty gold pieces for the items in this bag, instead of the sixty they’re worth.”

“A good deal”, Rosalie responded, “for me, that is. Since when are you so into books? You know you’re losing money with that, right?”

“The books, my dearest Rosalie”, Holtzmann replied, making her raise an eyebrow again, “are a gift. For a _very_ special person.”

“Awww”, Rosalie gushed at once, going back to smiling widely from one moment to the other, “that is adorable! Okay, I got the perfect books for you then, two, like you said. There’s _Poems of Love and Longing_ here, and also _Stargazers_ , a collection of romantic short stories and poems. Perfect for new love!”

“I’ll take them”, Holtzmann decided at once; Rosalie beamed at her and offered to wrap them up prettily, something Holtzmann declined though, figuring the books would go into her bag anyway and that she could give them to Erin once they were back at the inn, away from prying eyes.

“Suit yourself”, Rosalie said a bit primly as she handed the books over, “but I do think that gifts of romance should be presented accordingly. Trust me on this!”

“Keep your wrapping paper for the fancy lords and ladies”, Holtzmann told her, putting the books carefully into the bag after having handed the jewellery over, making sure they wouldn’t damaged; and once she had stowed them safely away, Rosalie paid her the amount they had agreed upon, letting out a happy sigh once the deal was done.

“I’m happy for you”, she then said, Holtzmann feeling her cheeks heat up in response, “give my best to your dearest, alright?”

“I will”, Holtzmann grinned, carefully putting her by now rather rounded purse in her pocket, not wanting to lose it; Rosalie let out a happy sigh again, clearly a fan of romantic gestures like getting books for someone, and waved as Holtzmann headed out, the blonde holding back the urge to whistle happily again as she walked back to the inn.

She could tell that she still had a bit left before Erin was supposed to meet her, and got comfortable on a bench outside the inn; the innkeep came outside to bring her some cooled ale, and for a while, she just sat there, enjoying her drink and the knowledge that she had gifts for Erin and the good feeling of a job well done, knowing that the money in her pocket would make sure they’d all live comfortably for quite a while.

After a while, her drink was empty, and she considered going in and getting a new one, only to realize belatedly that quite a bit of time had gone by with her just sitting there, thinking about everything and nothing; frowning, Holtzmann glanced around, the first pangs of worry clenching up her stomach when she couldn’t see Erin approach.

Not quite sure if she should try and find her, or wait at the inn, Holtzmann fidgeted on the bench, looking around, as if Erin would just magically appear once she had done so often enough; she told herself not to be paranoid, that nobody in this city was after them, apart from the crew and Rebecca, nobody even knew they were here, so there was no reason to think anything had happened.

Certainly, Holtzmann told herself, Erin just had lost track of time, it could happen, in a new city, with so many things to look at; and certainly, Erin would show up any moment, and be flustered for being late, in that cute way she had, with her cheeks flushing and her fingers fidgeting.

More time went by, and Erin didn’t show up, and Holtzmann’s worries grew; and finally, when it was well past the time they had agreed upon, Holtzmann couldn’t wait any longer, quickly carrying the cup back inside before she went to look for Erin, telling herself that doing so would be better than just sitting around and waiting.

Walking at a brisk pace, bag bouncing on her hip, Holtzmann made her way to the store she had pointed out to Erin for travel supplies; she asked if a redheaded woman had been around to buy supplies, worry only growing when the store owner told her yes and that said woman had left about half an hour ago.

_Maybe she just got lost on her way back to the inn_ , Holtzmann thought to herself as she tried hard to hide her dismay from the store owner, _that’s bad enough, I never should have sent her out on her own like this, in an unknown city… good job Holtzmann, you’ll really have to make that up to her._

“…can’t believe this just happened”, she heard a woman say as she stepped out of the store and looked around, no quite sure which way to go to find Erin, “right there, on the street, just a few feet from here! At first I thought they’d be after me when they shouted for the girl to stop, but I didn’t do anything, I wonder if she did.”

Holtzmann couldn’t know that the woman was talking about Erin, there was no way she could know for sure… and still, she somehow just knew, and froze, barely noticing that she started burning tin so she wouldn’t miss anything of what the woman was telling her friend, the two walking away, unaware of how all colour drained from Holtzmann’s face.

“It wasn’t even soldiers from the Lord Ruler”, the woman was saying, “but from some noble house, with their fancy uniforms. They grabbed her right there, just outside of Sal’s food store, the poor thing.”

“Excuse me”, Holtzmann finally couldn’t just listen any longer, hurrying to catch up to the two women, both of them looking at her in surprise, “that girl you’re talking about? What did she look like?”

“Oh, young, bit older than you maybe”, the woman who had witnessed the capture told her, apparently not thinking it strange that Holtzmann wanted to know, “red hair, bit pale, bit thin, I’m pretty sure she was a skaa, even though she was cleaner than they usually are. A household skaa who stole from her lord maybe, the soldiers didn’t say, but it was so dramatic…”

She clearly wanted to tell more about how dramatic it had been, but Holtzmann didn’t let her, thanking her distractedly as she moved on, her mind racing; her first impulse was to keep burning tin, and add pewter and chase after the men who had taken Erin, but a few deep breaths reminded her of what Rebecca always told her – _don’t just act blindly without thinking, Jillian, make a plan, be prepared –_ and so, she didn’t, forcing herself to stop and think instead.

_They’re either from Hudson or from whoever owns his estate now,_ she told herself, _wanting to get vengeance for their lord. And if they know how Hudson died, they will know she’s an Allomancer, and they will know that the Lord Ruler wants all skaa Allomancers to be brought to him. They’ll hope for a bounty, or another kind of reward, so they won’t kill her right away, they’ll take her there. To the Lord Ruler. Back to the capital!_

She felt a bit better as now, she had a place to go, and during the trip back to the capital city, she would have more time to think; and she knew that she would be faster than the soldiers with their captive, that she had a way to be faster, no matter if they were on horseback or had to walk.

Holtzmann knew that it would get her scolded from Rebecca, but didn’t care, walking at a brisk pace again as she approached the city gates; she left town without anyone paying much attention to her, and once she was out of sight from the guards, she started burning pewter and started to run, her long shadow chasing along beside her as the sun was beginning to set.

She’d have to run through the night, she knew, but she didn’t care – with pewter and tin, she’d be neither tired, nor hindered by the darkness, and so, she ran, downing a fresh vial of metals as she did so, just to make sure her reserves wouldn’t run out, not even bothered when rain started to fall.

She ran, and she never noticed one of the books falling from the bag, lying in the mud, the pages getting soaked as it got left behind.


	26. Chapter 26

The morning of the next day was dawning by the time Holtzmann reached the city, having spend the night running; her clothes were soaked through, but pewter kept her from feeling the cold wetness, and kept her from feeling tired, her cloak flapping behind her when she used iron Pulling to leap over the city walls.

Thankfully, no guard was around to see her, neither when she jumped the wall, nor when she landed on the street; pewter helped her to keep her balance, and she hit the ground running, taking off towards the warehouse, knowing she had to get Abby and Patty before they could go to see Rebecca.

To her relief, both Abby and Patty were there when she burst inside, startling them both; and they just had to take one look at her, see her wide eyes and wet clothes and that she was alone, to know that something had gone wrong.

“Erin”, Holtzmann said before they had the chance to say anything, “they got her, someone, maybe from Hudson or from whoever owns it now, we have to do something, help her, get her out of there before they…”

“Calm down babygirl”, Patty said, automatically starting to Soothe her, if only to make her more coherent, “and tell us again what happened, slower this time, so we can—”

“ _Stop_ Soothing me!” Holtzmann snapped, with enough force to almost make Patty take a step back, “no time for that! They got her, you hear? Someone got her, and we can’t waste time with Soothing, not now!”

“Do you know who got her?” Abby wanted to know, “you said something about Hudson? How do you know?”

“Who else would it be”, Holtzmann gave back, running a nervous hand through her hair, the way her emotions were back with full force showing her though that at least, Patty had stopped Soothing her, “if it had been from the guy we robbed a week ago, they would have killed her right there in the city, they wouldn’t know she’s an Allomancer. But the ones who took her, they knew, they knew how she killed Hudson… So they’ll…”

“They’ll take her to the Lord Ruler”, Patty finished for her, having to swallow heavily while Abby paled, “and who knows what he’ll do to her then…”

“Send her to the Pits, or worse”, Holtzmann said, wringing her hands now, “whenever they grab a skaa Allomancer, that’s it, you know we’ve never seen any of them again. We have to get her out, Rebecca will know where they keep her… and if she doesn’t she can find out, she’s a noblewoman, she can…”

Realizing that she was staring to ramble again, Holtzmann made herself stop and took a few controlled, deep breaths; once she could be sure she had regained a semblance of self-control, she spoke up again, sounding much steadier now.

“Rebecca will know where they keep her”, she repeated, Abby and Patty nodding their agreement, “we need to go to her, _now_.”

“Take off the cloak”, Patty was level-headed enough to advise, “or you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Then we’ll go. Did you run here with a pewter drag? Then drink down some more and keep it burning or you’ll collapse.”

Knowing that she was right, Holtzmann downed another vial before she took off the cloak and carelessly tossed it onto the table; and afterwards, the three of them headed out to Rebecca’s house, hoping that they’d come up with a plan in time to save Erin from whatever gruesome fate the Lord Ruler might have in store for her.

* * *

 

If Rebecca was surprised to find the three of them at her door, she didn’t let it show; instead of questioning them or showing surprise, she just stepped aside to let them enter, and they did so quickly, before anyone could see them and wonder what they were doing there, the crew hardly ever showing up at her house during the day after all, usually only dropping by after the sun had gone down.

Perhaps, the look on Holtzmann’s face had shown her that this wasn’t a social call, and she asked at once what had happened, the second the door had closed behind them.

“They got Erin”, Holtzmann gave back, Rebecca’s gaze darkening in response, “soldiers, from some Lord. We’d gone to the other town to sell the stuff there, like you said, and they grabbed her there…”

“Do you know which house they belonged to?” Rebecca wanted to know, her frown deepening when Holtzmann shook her head, the blonde unable to keep the guilt out of her voice when she told her that they had been split up at the time, that she had sent Erin to get supplies for the trip back.

“I wanted to surprise her”, she then added, suddenly feeling close to tears, and almost wishing that Patty would Soothe her again, knowing though that it wouldn’t happen, not after how she had snapped at her, “so I sent her away, to buy her a gift while we’d be apart, and now they grabbed her… But they must have known she’s an Allomancer or they would have killed her right there, if it had been for the thievery, it must have been connected to Hudson…”

“North”, Rebecca said in response, and all three women blinked at her, not quite sure what this meant, the elder woman letting out an impatient huff before she elaborated.

“One would think that people like you, who rob nobles for a living, pay more attention to the gossip”, she then said, Holtzmann looking bashful, as she always did when Rebecca scolded her like this, “Lord Rowan North. Cousin to Lord Philipp Hudson, he inherited Hudson’s estate. He had no interest in staying there though, too far out in the country for his taste, so he’d selling the estate and brought the field worker skaa here to be sold, as well.”

“The group”, Holtzmann brought out, paling so drastically that they all feared she might faint for a moment,    “we passed them when we left to sell the stuff, a nobleman on his horse and a group of skaa… Maybe one of them recognized her, or more, and they told North, if he knows how Hudson died, and isn’t half dumb…”

“...then he figured out that the runaway skaa is an Allomancer”, Rebecca finished, nodding, dismayed now – she didn’t know any details about what the Lord Ruler had his Inquisitors do to captured skaa Allomancers, but she knew that none of them was ever seen again after they had been taken.

“We have to get her out, we have to”, Holtzmann fretted, wringing her hands again, Patty withstanding the impulse to Soothe her, not wanting to get snapped at again, “before they do who knows what to her, please Rebecca, you have to help us… Tell us where they’ll take her…”

“Holtzy ran back here using pewter”, Patty told Rebecca before Holtzmann had the chance to add this information and point out that possibly, Erin hadn’t even been brought back to the capital yet, “so she probably made it here before they will. If we’re fast enough…”

“Jillian”, Rebecca scolded, knowing the effects a prolonged pewter drag could have, “this is not healthy, but I understand why you did it, so we will not discuss this now. And you’re right, Patricia, if we act fast, we can get her out before they take her to the Lord Ruler. We have to be fast, and plan well though, to make sure this works out. Kevin!”

They all wondered why she would call for her dim-witted house servant, but didn’t question her, figuring there had to be a reason – he was built quite well after all, perhaps, Holtzmann thought, they would use his muscle, even though it wouldn’t really be necessary, what with pewter and the strength burning it gave to people; Kevin emerged from one of the mansion’s many rooms and smiled his usual dim smile, Rebecca giving him a stern look.

“You’ve stored your intelligence for long enough”, she then said, Abby and Holtzmann exchanging confused looks, their confusion only growing when Patty gasped audibly, “we need your smarts, and we need them now.”

“Very well”, Kevin gave back, “I’ll be right back, my Lady.” He wandered off again, Holtzmann and Abby still confused; Patty clearly had no such troubles though, her amazed gaze moving to Rebecca again, awe in her voice when she spoke up.

“He’s a feruchemist”, she said, “isn’t he. I’ve heard that some Terrismen are still are, but I never thought he’s one of them, he seems so… well, dumb.”

“He is, at my request”, Rebecca said, Patty raising an eyebrow, “he’d been storing up much strength when he came to me, and I asked him to store up his intelligence instead. Now we can use this to make a proper plan.”

“Feruchemists can store attributes in metal”, Patty hurriedly explained to Abby and Holtzmann, having realized they had no idea what was happening, “and apparently, Kevin stored up many smarts for Rebecca. So now he’s gonna take that all back at once, get super smart, and work something out with us to get Erin out of this trouble.”

Holtzmann allowed herself to feel a bit of hope at hearing this, giving Rebecca a grateful look; then, as she could feel her pewter reserves getting low, she downed another vial, skilfully ignoring the look of reproach Rebecca shot her, fighting the urge to fidget as they waited for Kevin to come back, her mind already racing with possibilities how they could get Erin out of there.


	27. Chapter 27

The last of her pewter had run out a while ago, and so, Erin was fighting to stay on her feet as the soldiers showed no mercy, having her walk along behind their horses; her wrists were bound in front of her, hurting from how tight the rough rope had been knotted, and the rope itself was tied to the saddle of one of the soldiers, making sure she couldn’t run.

Her hands hurt, her feet hurt, and she was afraid; her face and back hurt too, where they had hit her when she at first had struggled against being captured, then when she hadn’t been fast enough on the way back to the capital, but despite those hits and the pain, she felt oddly numb, not even quite capable of feeling fear.

At least, she told herself as she walked along behind the horse, barely noticing her surroundings, and not caring what the soldiers were talking about up ahead on their horses, Holtzmann hadn’t been captured; maybe, she thought to herself, it had been too good to be true for her anyway, to be free after a lifetime as a field working skaa, and it only had been a matter of when that freedom would end again, not if it would end at all.

“No slowing down, skaa!” one of them bellowed, tearing her out of her thoughts; they hadn’t bothered to ask about her name, and she didn’t tell them, knowing they didn’t care, figuring that no one would care again anytime soon, quite sure that she’d be killed sooner rather than later, after what the soldiers had said to her.

“Lord North will be pleased to see you”, one of them had told her, and the others had laughed, as if he had said something funny, “he’ll love to meet the skaa woman who killed his cousin using Allomancy. And then the Lord Ruler will be happy to meet you, too.”

“We’re almost at the city”, the soldier said, once again interrupting her thoughts, the hard look he gave her not really bothering her, what with how oddly numb she felt, “don’t try anything dumb there, you hear? We have orders to bring you back, but we were not told to bring you back with all your limbs intact.”

That barely veiled threat didn’t touch her much, either, and she just nodded, walking a bit faster, despite how much it increased the pain in her feet; the numbness weighed heavier though, and Erin just couldn’t bring herself to care, not even feeling anything when the city walls appeared up ahead.

No one but these men knew she had been captured, Erin figured, and so, there was no reason to get her hopes up for rescue; surely Holtzmann had noticed quickly that she was gone, and had figured out that something bad happened to her, but the soldiers had left the town right after she had been captured, and there was no way Holtzmann could have caught up to them, or could have even known where she was being taken.

Perhaps, she thought to herself as she kept walking, the soldiers now ignoring her again, she also felt so oddly numb because all her metals were gone, had been gone for days now; she’d lived most of her life without even knowing about the powers slumbering within her, but now that she had had them and couldn’t access them anymore, she missed them more than she would have thought possible, feeling as if all her senses had been dulled.

She thought back to how it had been to jump through the night with Holtzmann, using Pushing and Pulling to keep herself in the air; and she thought of how it had been to kiss Holtzmann while they had been floating in the air, how nice and good it had felt.

Erin was sure she’d never feel Holtzmann’s kiss again, and that thought hurt so much that it even pushed the numbness aside.

They entered the city, the guards at the gate nodding at the soldiers, clearly knowing them or at least knowing which House they belonged to; they eyed Erin curiously, but didn’t make any comment, Erin keeping her eyes on the road as she walked, and thus only realizing that the soldiers had stopped their horses when she almost bumped into it.

“What in the Lord Ruler’s name is that”, one of them said, sounding so confused that Erin risked looking up; apparently, she quickly saw, something had happened to the street, a large crater right there in the middle, too big and too deep to let their horses get through it safely, wooden planks having been put up at the edges of the crater, making sure no one would fall into it.

“Looks like the road caved in”, another commented, “come on, let’s take that alley over there, I know this area, we can go right, then left, then right again then we’ll be back on the main street but behind that nasty hole.”

“If we get lost, I’m blaming you”, the first soldier gave back, making his companion snicker; then, they took the way the man had suggested, Erin walking along behind the horses, her gaze dropping to the ground again, only to come back up when once more, the horse stopped unexpectedly.

“Hey!” she heard the soldier snap, glad that they weren’t paying any attention on her so that she could peer past them, “move it, dirty skaa!”

For once, he wasn’t talking to her like this, but to the man kneeling on the ground right there, in the middle of the alley; he was wrapped up in an old, dirty cloak, and raised thin hands pleadingly, his arms so thin that Erin was surprised he could actually keep himself upright, and didn’t end up flat on his face.

“Please, kind Sir”, the man said, in a scratchy old man’s voice, “just a small gift? A kindness for a homeless beggar?”

“Move it, I said”, the soldier snarled in response, his hand going to the pommel of his sword; in response, the man let out an oddly sounding whine, but still didn’t move, and for the first time since she had been captured, Erin felt real fear, suddenly just knowing that the soldier would cut the poor soul down if he wouldn’t move out of the way soon.

She opened her mouth to say something, call out a warning, even though it probably would get her beaten again… and just then, the man’s body began to change, and the words got stuck in her throat.

His arm thickened visibly, building up muscle so fast that Erin was surprised she couldn’t actually hear his skin creak at how fast it had to spread; the soldiers let out startled noises, showing her she wasn’t hallucinating this after days of walking, with barely enough food and water to keep her going, but before they could more than that, the man shot to his feet and threw his cloak off, her eyes going wide when she recognized him as Lady Gorin’s servant.

She had about a second to be surprised by this development, then the very familiar and very welcome sound of a cloak flapping drowned out the surprised yelps of the soldiers – and even though Holtzmann was wearing a mask to hide her face, Erin recognized her easily as she came rushing down from the roof she had been hiding on and landed right on the middle of the group, soldiers crying out and yelping in pain as she Pushed against the swords they all carried and sent them flying in all directions.

Not wasting any time, Holtzmann reached into one of the hidden pockets of her cloak and pulled out a vial of metals; she tossed it towards Erin, using the gentlest steel Push possible to stabilize it so it wouldn’t fall to the ground and shatter, and despite her bound hands, Erin managed to catch it, quickly uncorking it and gulping the liquid down.

The powers were back within her again at once, and she smiled, all the numbness and pain vanishing as she started burning pewter, feeling better than she had in days.

One quick, powerful movement tore the rope around her wrists, and her smile widened; the soldiers had recovered somewhat, enough to get back on their feet, none of them drawing their swords though, knowing how useless those would be against not only one Mistborn, but two.

“Don’t kill us, please!” one of them cried – the one, Erin realized, who had enjoyed kicking her in the morning to wake her up, sometimes with a mean smile on his scarred face, “we were just following orders!”

Another one of them apparently had no interest in trying to talk his way out of this, as he let out a roar, then stormed at Kevin, despite how frighteningly the man had bulked up at this point, looking more like some mythic beast than an actual human; without much apparent effort, Kevin grabbed the man the moment he got close enough, then threw him, the soldier shouting in fear until he hit the ground and his yelling turned into a pained yelp.

One of them did pull his sword out after all, and Erin reacted at once, Pushing against it as hard as she could; it flew out of his grasp and slid over the ground, Erin making sure it was safely out of reach, tin helping her to pick up movement behind her, and she spun around, just in time to see that one of the soldiers had managed to get back up on his horse and now jerked the reins hard, the animal rearing up on its hind legs, and Erin realized that he wanted to use the horse’s body to crush her.

She reached up without thinking, pewter letting her move fast enough, and it gave her the strength she needed, too – the strength to grab the horse’s legs and push it back, hard enough to make it stumble, then fall, the soldier crying out when he got pinned beneath it.

Another one took a step towards her, but before he could do more than that, Holtzmann was there, and punched him in the stomach; the hit was hard enough to sent him flying, and within moments, the men were all on the ground, groaning in pain and unable to fight further.

Quickly, Holtzmann moved to Erin’s side and grasped her hand, tilting her head questioningly, avoiding it to speak, Erin noted, so the soldiers wouldn’t hear her voice; she smiled in response and nodded, and even though Holtzmann’s face was hidden, Erin could tell she was grinning as she threw down a coin.

And then, they Pushed against it at the same time, and shot off into the air, and just like that, Erin had her freedom back, laughing with joy as she jumped with Holtzmann, all her fears and worries gone from one moment to the next.


	28. Chapter 28

“Thank goodness”, Patty said the moment Erin and Holtzmann entered the warehouse, “it worked out fine, thank goodness, Erin you’re safe!”

“I am”, Erin confirmed, letting out an “ooff” sound when Patty pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, one which felt quite tight even with pewter giving her extra strength, “Holtz and Kevin got me out…”

“Am I glad the man’s crazy plan worked”, Patty said, making Erin blink as she remembered well how dim said man had appeared to be when she had met him; before she could question this though, Abby had taken note that Holtzmann had come back, and had done so with Erin, and came rushing from her room to hug the redhead as well, clearly as happy as Patty was to have her back.

“We were sceptical it would”, Patty admitted once they both had pulled back enough to give Erin some room to breathe again, “especially when he claimed to have calculated how long it would take them to get back here and that they would arrive today, but turns out he was right. Thank goodness.”

She hugged Erin again, the redhead smiling by the time she pulled back, touched by this welcome; now that the action was over though, and she had extinguished her pewter again, she felt tired and drained, too, and all the pains were coming back, something the other women could easily tell from how exhausted she looked all at once.

“Alright girl”, Patty said, Abby nodding empathically, “you better get some rest. And you too, Holtzy, we all know you’ve been burning pewter for days now, that’s not healthy.”

Erin gaped at Holtzmann at hearing that, the blonde just shrugging though, apparently having forgotten all about the horror stories she had told Erin about burning metals too long without taking a break; shaking her head, Erin took hold of her hand and claimed that they both should get some rest then, smiling again though when Holtzmann nodded at once.

“Yes, yes”, Abby agreed as well, practically pushing them towards Holtzmann’s bedroom, “get some sleep, both of you. We can talk about our next steps once you both recovered, now sleep well.”

Both Erin and Holtzmann nodded, then retreated to the bedroom; and once there, Holtzmann found some fresh clothing for Erin to wear, figuring that she wouldn’t want to sleep in the clothing she had been wearing while she’d been the captive of the soldiers.

“Thank you”, Erin smiled at her as she accepted the clothing, just a simple shirt to cover her while she slept; with how tired she was now, she didn’t care that Holtzmann was there in the room with her and just pulled the shirt she had been wearing over her head, only to pause when she heard the blonde gasp audibly behind her.

Still burning pewter, Holtzmann moved to her side before she could turn to look at her; and a moment later, Erin felt Holtzmann’s hand on her shoulder, the touch so light it was barely noticeable, an audible tremble in Holtzmann’s voice when she spoke up.

“They whipped you?” she demanded to know, and for a moment, Erin wasn’t sure if she was pained or angry, or perhaps both, “those bastards, I would have hit them harder if I had known!”

“Oh no”, Erin gave back, pulling the shirt over her head and hiding the scars from view, “they didn’t, those are from… my time at the fields. The overseers were quick with the whips, you know.”

Holtzmann grumbled, but was glad that at least, the soldiers hadn’t whipped her, too; she had seen the fresh bruises though, and knew that they might not have whipped her, but had beaten her, and the thought made her want to beat them up all over again.

She was glad for the hits she had gotten in, and figured that an even worse fate awaited the men, after how they had failed their mission of bringing Erin to Lord North; this was a small comfort though for what she knew Erin had endured during the time she had been captive, for the beatings and the lack of food and water she certainly had suffered.

“We should get some rest”, Erin reminded her of the reason why they had retreated to this room in the first place; pushing her anger at the soldiers down, Holtzmann nodded, then changed her own clothing before she laid down, knowing she would crash hard the moment she’d stop burning pewter, after how she had been using it for days without pause.

She patted the bed, wanting to have Erin close to herself, after how they had been forced to be apart for the past few days; and Erin immediately laid down next to her and snuggled up to her, the blonde letting out a content sigh as she wrapped both arms around her and held her close.

“Glad to have you back”, she mumbled, kissing the top of the other woman’s head tenderly; Erin let out a noise of agreement, and Holtzmann took a moment or two to rub her back soothingly – before she extinguished her pewter for the first time in days and immediately fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

“Holtz is gonna be out for at least another day”, Patty told a worried Erin in the next day, after the redhead had woken up well rested and had found herself unable to get Holtzmann to wake up, as well, “that’s what happens after days of burning pewter with no breaks. Don’t worry, we’ve seen this before, she’ll be fine, her body just needs more time to recover.”

This calmed Erin down a bit, but she still worried; figuring though that Patty knew what she was talking about, she made herself nod, and even managed a smile when the other woman offered her some breakfast, proper food and tea, not the dry bread and lukewarm water the soldiers had given her during the time she had been their captive.

“Thank you”, she said, Patty just smiling back at her; Erin grimaced a bit as she sat down, still feeling the walking and the beatings she’d been forced to endure the past few days, but it could have been much worse, she told herself as she started to eat, they could have beaten her worse than they had, or could have done other things to her, the things Lord Hudson had been planning to do before Holtzmann had come to her rescue.

_And they rescued you,_ she then reminded herself, knowing she had been spared an even worse fate – no one knew what happened to the skaa Allomancers who were brought to the Lord Ruler, and she didn’t want to find out, glad that the crew had come up with a plan in time to rescue her, frowning to herself when she thought back to what Patty had said about the plan in question.

“You said Kevin came up with this plan?” she voiced those thoughts out loud, surprise only growing when Patty nodded at once, then grinned at the confused look on Erin’s face.

“It’s alright”, the Soother then said, “you can say it, he appeared too dumb to come up with something like that, didn’t he.”

“…pretty much”, Erin admitted, glad that neither the man himself, nor Lady Gorin were around to hear her say that; Patty snickered, her amusement only confusing Erin further, but before she had to ask, Patty explained, telling her that Kevin was a Terrisman, and that some of his people were what she called a Feruchemist, something Erin never had heard of before.

“They work with metal, like Allomancers”, Patty explained, “but not by digesting and burning them, instead, they wear them as jewellery, and they can store up attributes in them. For example, a Feruchemist can use a ring with pewter to store up strength, which is what Kevin did before the fight.”

“Ooh”, Erin let out, quickly figuring out what Patty meant exactly, “that’s why he looked so frail and thin when he pretended to be a beggar and then bulked up like that, right? That looked frightening, the soldiers got scared, too.”

“Yes”, Patty nodded, “that’s how he did that, and apparently, that’s also why he was so dumb. Rebecca asked him to store up intelligence for a time when it’d be needed, and he used that to come up with this plan. So if he’s dumb again the next time we see him, you know why.”

“Oh wow”, Erin said, touched by the fact that Kevin had made use of his stored up strength and intelligence to help her, of all people, a simple skaa woman he had only met once, “that was… very kind of both of them. To help like this.”

“Well, Rebecca knows that you’re important to Holtz”, Patty pointed out, Erin blushing visibly in response, hiding her blush behind her cup of tea as she took a sip from the sweet liquid, “and Holtz is important to Rebecca, so of course she’d help.”

“I’ll make sure to thank them both”, Erin said, making Patty smile and nod; then, they both focused on their food and fell silent, Erin eating with quite the healthy appetite after how she had spent days walking and with not much food, once more glad that she had her freedom back and had been reunited with Holtzmann and the others, thankful for the aid Rebecca and Kevin had given them.


	29. Chapter 29

For the rest of this day and for most of the next one, Erin spent her time in Holtzmann’s room, carefully pouring water into the sleeping woman’s mouth after Patty had shown her how to do it in a way which wouldn’t make her choke; she slept cuddled up against Holtzmann’s still form, reminding herself again and again that Patty had said that this was normal after what she’d referred to as pewter drag and that there was nothing to worry about.

Despite Patty’s and Abby’s reassurances that Holtzmann would be fine, Erin couldn’t help herself, but just had to worry; she made sure that the blonde at least got enough water, and kept a close eye on her during those days, eager to be there the moment she’d open her eyes again.

If Abby and Patty hadn’t reassured her that Holtzmann was just sleeping, Erin would have thought that she was unconscious or even in a coma, with how still she laid there; every now and then, Erin moved her a bit, so she wouldn’t get sore from lying in the same position the whole time, hoping that she was doing the right thing and was actually being helpful, after how Holtzmann had mobilized the whole crew to help her.

As she waited for Holtzmann to come back around, she practiced reading, with one of the books Patty had given her; she glanced up every now and then though to make sure she wouldn’t miss the blonde waking up, and when she looked up one time close to nightfall, Holtzmann was looking back at her, even managing a weak smile when their eyes met.

“You’re awake!” Erin happily said, putting down the book and coming to her feet so she could sit on the edge of the bed, “how are you feeling? Better?”

“Still a bit tired”, Holtzmann gave back, yawning heartily as if to underline her own words, “but I knew that was gonna happen when I burned pewter for so long. Rebecca’s gonna yell at me for that the next time I see her.”

“Aw”, Erin let out, making the blonde smile a bit, her smile widening when Erin took tender hold of her hand and ran her thumb over her knuckles in an absent-minded, but gentle caress, “well, I appreciate that you did this… for me. That you all took this risk for me, I owe you so much…”

“You don’t owe us anything”, Holtzmann shook her head, earning a doubtful look from the redhead, “I mean it. Of course we helped you, I mean, you mean a lot to me so I wouldn’t just leave you with these guys.”

“You mean a lot to me, too”, Erin told her, blushing visibly; she cleared her throat, then leaned in for a gentle kiss, holding back a content sigh when Holtzmann’s lips met hers, each time again amazed at how good and right this felt.

“Oh!” Holtzmann let out once they had pulled apart again, earning a confused and questioning look from the redhead, “that reminds me, I got a little surprise for you. Get me my bag? It’s over there on the chair.”

“Sure”, Erin said, curious about what surprise Holtzmann was talking about; she got up and grabbed the bag, then sat back down as she handed it to the blonde, watching curiously how Holtzmann opened the straps holding the bag close and reached inside, a small gasp escaping Erin when the blonde then pulled out a book.

“Here”, Holtzmann said, a bit bashful now, as she held the book out to her, Erin by now good enough at reading to be able to decipher the title as _Stargazers_ , “I actually got you two, but I lost one when I ran from the town to be back here in time. Luckily I didn’t lose this one.”

“Wow”, Erin let out, running her hands over the smooth leather binding of the book, eyes wide and full of wonder, Holtzmann smiling again at how amazed and touched the other woman looked at the gift, “this is… I’ve never had a book of my own before. This is amazing, thank you so much Holtz…”

“My pleasure”, Holtzmann beamed, happy that her gift had been received so well, “I’m glad you like it! The lady at the store told me it’s romantic stories and poems, ideal for young love.”

She realized a bit belatedly that she had spoken of love, and judging from how Erin flushed, the redhead had picked up on it, too; Holtzmann felt her own cheeks heat up, didn’t try to backpedal though, and to her relief, Erin just smiled again after a moment, voice soft and eyes shining when she thanked Holtzmann yet again.

“I’ll start reading this when you went back to sleep”, she then said, easily able to tell that Holtzmann was still tired, with the dark rings beneath her eyes, the yawn the engineer let out only confirming this suspicion, “as you probably should do again now, you look so tired, sweetheart.”

The pet name made Holtzmann flush again, and she found herself nodding instead of arguing back; she pointed out though that she at least should eat and drink something before she’d go back to sleep, and Erin agreed, almost reverently putting the book on the table before she hurried off to find Holtzmann something to eat.

By the time she came back with some vegetable soup Abby had made earlier in the day, Holtzmann looked as if she was close to falling asleep again; still the blonde managed to eat the whole bowl, to Erin’s joy, and drank most of the water the redhead had brought along as well, looking quite content by the time she handed the bowl back to Erin.

“Thank you”, she then said, slumping back down onto the pillow, “now snuggle me? So I will rest well?”

“Of course”, Erin replied, blushing a bit again; this didn’t deter her though, Holtzmann smiling when Erin laid down next to her and put both arms around her, feeling content as she rested her head on the other woman’s shoulder.

“Sleep well”, Erin mumbled, moving one hand to caress her back tenderly; Holtzmann, already half asleep, let out a vaguely agreeing noise, then drifted off into sleep quickly, getting the rest her body needed.

* * *

It took Holtzmann another two days to recover fully from her pewter drag, and by the time she finally could get out of bed again without feeling drained after just a minute of standing upright, she was itching to get outside, to jump through the night with Erin by her side, to use her powers, feeling restless and as if she was close to getting cabin fever, after having been cooped up in her bedroom for so long.

She knew though that she had to wait until nightfall to get out and make use of her powers; thankfully, Rebecca came by with Kevin in tow to check on her and with news to distract her, none of the crew truly surprised about what Rebecca told them.

“Lord North is angry”, she said somewhat bluntly, “he really wanted to present you to the Lord Ruler, Erin. And apparently, he already had made the announcement that he would capture an Allomancer skaa soon, so now he looks… bad.”

“Oh nooo”, Holtzmann said smugly, shrugging at the strict look Rebecca shot her, and making Erin smile with what she said next, “what? You expect me to feel sorry for him? The Lord Ruler would have killed Erin or worse if he had gotten his hands on her, and you know that.”

“Spikes”, Kevin said almost dreamily, apparently back to storing up intelligence for the future as he was back to his somewhat dim self, “beautiful, beautiful shiny spikes.”

Erin didn’t quite know what he was talking about, but she still shuddered, the mention of spikes after Holtzmann had talked about the Lord Ruler making her think back to the creature Holtzmann and she had seen, the one Holtz had called an Inquisitor, still remembering well how the spikes driven through its head had looked.

“Of course Kevin”, Rebecca replied, in a tone which showed that this was her usual response to his ramblings; he smiled dopily, and Erin found herself wondering what it had to be like, if he was aware how dim he got when he stored up intelligence and if he disliked it, or if he didn’t care much, knowing that what he did was for a greater good.

“Anyway”, Rebecca made the others look at her again, “I’m afraid we’ll have to do something about Lord North sooner rather than later. He knows what you look like, Erin, and I doubt he will stop until he manages to drag you in front of the Lord Ruler.”

“That won’t happen”, Holtzmann said, sounding so cold all at once that Erin looked at her in surprise, “I’ll kill him myself if I have to before I let that happen.”

“None of us is gonna let that happen”, Abby calmed her down, Rebecca giving her a strict look at the talk of killing someone, “no worries there. But Rebecca is right, we have to do something about this guy, before he gets the chance to act first.”

“I’m sure we can come up with something”, Holtzmann gave back, confident in their skills, especially if they’d all work together, “do you know anything about him which might help us?”  
  
“Not much”, Rebecca gave back, making Holtzmann frown, “he keeps to himself a lot, doesn’t even go to many of the balls. Only to the biggest ones, where it would be an affront to the Lord Ruler to not show up. And when he does show up and speaks to people, he’s not very… refined.”

“If Rebecca says it like that, it means he’s a rude ass”, Holtzmann helpfully told Erin, making her laugh despite the serious situation; Holtzmann grinned, then got serious again as well, focusing on Rebecca once more.

“Do we know if he’s an Allomancer?” she asked, frowning once again when Rebecca sighed, then shrugged, clearly not having the clear answer Holtzmann had been hoping for.

“I don’t know”, she verbally confirmed this suspicion, “if he is, he’s managed to hide it well. His family has had many Allomancers though, even a Mistborn or two, so if you ever do encounter him in direct combat, assume he has powers and fight him accordingly.”

“Let’s hope it won’t come to that”, Abby threw in, grimacing; Holtzmann nodded her agreement, and Erin did, too, the two women exchanging a look afterwards though, quite sure that things wouldn’t work out as easily as they were hoping for at the moment, for some reason convinced that they would end up fighting the man before this would all be over.


	30. Chapter 30

“I wish I could have been more helpful when we were talking about Rowan”, Erin said quite a while later, as they were getting ready for a brief trip outside; they both knew it wasn’t perfectly safe, but Holtzmann couldn’t stand the thought of spending another night inside, smiling happily as she put on her cloak.

“You all had such good ideas”, Erin added as Holtzmann gave her a look of confusion now, “about how we could harm him by harming his business, and his home, and stuff, and I just… sat there. I had nothing to contribute.”

“Not true”, Holtzmann said, shaking her head for emphasis, “you had the idea to manipulate his trading carts so that he can’t sell things at the market. That was a good idea.”

“But Lady Gorin shot it down”, Erin reminded her, still not quite able to just refer to her as Rebecca, the way the others did, “and with good reason, too, it’d take too long to have an actual effect, with the money he made selling Lord Hudson’s house and… skaa. I didn’t think it through before I said it.”

“And I thought through my idea of blocking the sewers of his home so the mansion would get flooded with poo and pee?” Holtzmann shot back, Erin giggling at the memory, especially as she remembered the look Rebecca had given the blonde for that idea, one which had screamed “No, you did not just say this” without the noblewoman having to say a word, “your idea was way better than that one I had. So you did contribute, don’t sell yourself short. And it’s not like anyone else came up with something good so far.”

Erin held back a sigh as she realized that this was true – there had been several ideas from all members of the crew, but none of them had turned out to be the amazing good idea they’d need, and so, for now, all they could do was some more thinking, and perhaps come up with a way to get rid of Rowan after all, before he could come after them.

“I’m sure we’ll come up with something”, Holtzmann said, clearly sensing her worries and eager to make her feel better about them, “but for now, I don’t want to think anymore, my brain is mush. I just wanna go out and jump. Ready?”

“Ready”, Erin said with a smile, realizing how much she had missed this too; she hadn’t dared to go out on her own while Holtzmann had been out cold from her pewter drag, and the bit of jumping they had done after she had been rescued from North’s soldiers hadn’t quite been enough, not after how she had been forced to be without metals during her days of captivity.

Perhaps, she thought to herself, it should frighten her how much being without any metal had dismayed her, after the short time she had known she was Mistborn and had actually used her powers; she couldn’t find it within herself to worry about this though as she downed a vial of metals, smiling as she felt her reservoirs of power be filled up again, the powers glowing brightly within her.

Holtzmann downed a vial of her own, then pushed the door open and stepped outside first; she waited until Erin had moved outside too and had closed the door again, then threw down a coin and shot off into the night, holding back the urge to holler in joy, not wanting to gain any unwanted attention.

She could hear Erin’s cloak flap as the redhead followed her, by now keeping up with her easily; it still amazed Holtzmann how fast Erin was learning, and she made a mental note to tell her about how awesome her progress actually was, not quite sure that Erin knew, having no other Mistborn in training around she could compare herself to.

“I’m keeping my copper on”, Holtzmann called out to her girlfriend as she Pushed on another source of metal nearby and strengthened her jump, Erin following with ease, “so you don’t have to. Burn tin and listen for anything suspicious?”

“No problem”, Erin gave back, the night becoming oddly crisp and clear around her as she began burning tin; she told herself not to look up at the sky, not wanting to get distracted by the beauty of the stars overhead, keeping her focus on Holtzmann instead and on the sounds of the city, hearing guards walk their patrol down below and talking quietly to each other, and even hearing the owner of a house snore when Holtzmann chose it for a quiet landing.

“Anything unusual?” she asked once Erin had landed next to her, prompting her to shake her head; Holtzmann grinned at her and took the time for a quick, but gentle kiss, then took off again, smiling happily at how good this felt, at the wind in her hair and how it made her cloak flap behind her, the noise doubled when Erin moved to keep up with her.

There was enough metal all around them to let them jump from rooftop to rooftop with ease, a bonus of living in a city where noble Mistborn used the same means of transportations, during their nightly missions of messing with other houses; this was kept a careful secret from the skaa population, but thanks to her connection with Rebecca, Holtzmann knew about it, thus keeping out an eye for other Mistborn as Erin and she jumped through the night.

If any others were out and about though, they were doing so in another part of the city, and nowhere near Erin and Holtzmann; and so, they could enjoy their time together, jumping through the night, both of them feeling better and happier than they had in days.

* * *

By the time they made it back to the warehouse, Erin was glad to be back, having started to worry towards the end of their trip that someone might notice them and catch on to the fact that she was the escaped skaa Lord North wanted to have captured; if someone had seen them though, they hadn’t called out, nobody raising their voice towards them even as they landed a few streets from the warehouse.

“This was nice”, Erin said as they walked the rest of the way, not wanting to bring too much attention to the place by landing right in front of it, smiling at how good she felt and at the fact that Holtzmann took hold of her hand as they walked, squeezing the blonde’s hand gently and making Holtzmann smile brightly as well.

“I’ve missed this”, the redhead continued, making Holtzmann nod at once, “I didn’t realize how much until I had no metals left when those men captured me. And then when we were back here I didn’t want to go out without you…”

“That was smart though”, Holtzmann told her, making her smile again, “what with Lord North being on the lookout for you. And now probably for a weird small Mistborn with a mask, too.”

“Thank you again for saving me”, Erin gave back, squeezing her hand, “and for taking the risk of a pewter drag, just for me…”

“I wouldn’t say _just_ for you”, Holtzmann corrected, and Erin felt her cheeks heat up at what the blonde said next, “I’d do it again any time for you, because you’re special, Erin. To me. I’d do much more for you than that.”

“That’s so sweet”, Erin mumbled, blushing a bit, not quite sure what else she could say; and so, she just said “thank you” again before she pulled the blonde in for a gentle kiss, the two smiling at each other afterwards before they entered the warehouse, Holtzmann quickly realizing that Abby and Patty were fast asleep already as she burned tin to hear them snore, gesturing at Erin to be quiet before they snuck to her bedroom.

Once there, they both changed into their sleeping wear, and Erin snuggled up to Holtzmann the moment they had laid down; for a while, she just laid there, and listened to the younger woman’s heartbeat, then, gathering all her courage, propped herself up on one elbow and kissed her, with much more passion and more demanding than usual, the kiss going straight to Holtzmann’s core and heating up her blood.

Clearly, Erin had similar feelings, judging from how she pressed herself against Holtzmann; pulling back from the kiss, Holtzmann couldn’t help but sound breathless as she told Erin that there was no obligation for her to do any of this, that she shouldn’t feel as if she owed Holtzmann for the rescue.

“I don’t”, Erin replied, simultaneously moving her hand beneath the blonde’s loose shirt and making her gasp, “I want this.”

Holtzmann could only nod as Erin’s hand travelled over her stomach to her chest; suddenly daring, Erin smiled, then kissed her again, and a short while later, all conscious thought was forgotten as they both focused fully on each other and on the things they made each other feel.


	31. Chapter 31

“Good moooorning everyone”, Holtzmann happily sang out in the next day, earning confused looks from Abby and Patty – she normally wasn’t exactly a morning grouch, but not as overly happy as she appeared to be now, either, and Patty had found herself wondering if she had found the secret stash she’d hidden in her room, of the herbs she sometimes smoked to relax after jobs during which she’d had to do a lot of Soothing.

Then, Erin entered the kitchen as well, not quite as energetic as Holtzmann, but smiling much wider than usual, too, and with a certain sparkle in her eyes, and Patty knew at once why they both looked like that, unable to stop a somewhat dirty grin from curling her lips.

“Guess you’re having an exceptionally good morning, babygirl”, she said, winking when Holtzmann grinned at her; Erin blushed brightly, but didn’t try to deny anything, only shrugging when Patty’s gaze moved to her next.

“It is a good morning”, she then said, making Patty laugh; she gave them both a thumbs up, prompting Erin’s blush to intensify, and quickly, the redhead busied herself with finding something to eat and with filling up two mugs with tea, only to keep her hands busy and to get the chance to turn her back on Patty for a little bit.

“Happy to hear that”, Patty said, making the blonde snicker while Erin cleared her throat; and Abby chose that exact moment to join them, raising an eyebrow at the display, a brightly blushing Erin standing at the table, a quite smug looking Holtzmann and the dirty grin on Patty’s face.

“Do I even want to know?” she finally said, and immediately, Erin replied with “no”; this made both Holtzmann and Patty snicker, and after a moment of just looking at them with a raised eyebrow, Abby shook her head, then went to cut some cheese and ham for herself, not bothering to ask what was going on.

“So while you guys have been having fun last night”, she said instead, talking about the time when they had gone out to use their Mistborn powers, but apparently Erin thought she meant something else, since she choked audibly on a sip of tea, her cheeks nearly crimson by the time she calmed down again, Holtzmann helpfully patting her back.

“Okay, that was weird”, Abby said once Erin had calmed down again, but not questioning it further, “anyway, while you were out bouncing from roof to roof, I went to town and to a few taverns, to find out what’s the city’s word on our friend Lord North. Turns out he’s not very well liked, as Rebecca said, even less by the skaa than by the nobility.”

“No surprise there”, Holtzmann commented, “if he’s an ass to other nobles, imagine how he treats his skaa.”

“Exactly”, Abby nodded, while Erin felt a bit bad, since her murder of Lord Hudson had been what had put Hudson’s skaa into the hands of Lord North, “but there is one skaa who gained his favour. Apparently, this man did so by pointing Erin out to the guards as the one who’d been taken to Lord North’s chamber the night he was killed.”

“What?!” Patty cried out, shocked – the skaa had hard lives, and only helping each other out made this bearable, this betrayal on a level she never had heard of before, not among skaa who were supposed to look out for each other when the nobles were out to get them.

“Wow, what an asshole”, Holtzmann grumbled, clearly not liking the thought of someone betraying her Erin like this, “do we know that guy’s name? So I can find him and pewter punch him? How dare he, betray Erin like that, skaa are supposed to help each other!”

“I’m not surprised”, Erin mumbled before anyone else could say anything, the three women gaping at her, not having expected this at all, “I was… They never cared much for me. The other skaa. There was… an incident, when I was younger, I ended up spending the night outside in the mist and…”

“Oh Sweetheart”, Patty said, full of sympathy now, knowing at once what something like that meant for a skaa, how superstitious they could be and how they were easily capable of taking these superstitions out on their own, no matter if they were supposed to stick together or not.

“I saw… something”, Erin continued, with a faraway look in her eyes now, for the first time since it had happened truly thinking back to those dreadful hours, “when I was outside in the mist. Maybe the other skaa already noticed something is off about me before my powers… showed up, I’d never had many friends among them, and then they locked me outside to prove I’m not like them, maybe hoping the mists would take me. Instead I… I saw some sort of… creature, made of bones and slime, moaning and groaning in the mist…”

She had started to breathe faster and faster as she had been speaking, and now, as her voice cracked at the last few words, Holtzmann couldn’t take it anymore, and she rushed to Erin’s side, pulling her into a comforting embrace, at the same time Soothing her fears and pain, eager to make her feel better, not able to stand it to see her love in such pain.

“Mistwraith”, Patty said, prompting Erin to look at her in confusion; she was aware that Holtzmann was Soothing her, but didn’t truly mind, not if it helped make her feel better, “that is what you saw. They’re harmless though, they live off of animal corpses and sometimes dead humans they find, but there is no record of one ever killing a human.”

“Some other skaa saw it too”, Erin mumbled, Holtzmann now rubbing her back soothingly, “and just took it as another sign that something is wrong with me. They… didn’t try anything anymore, after that night, thinking I’d been touched by the mists, but… They also didn’t try to help anymore. Not even when Hudson sent his men for me.”

“Now I want to pewter punch them all”, Holtzmann declared, shaking her head, “how could they! Superstitious lot, have they never heard of an Allomancer before?! They should have been glad to have someone like you among them, not shun you!”

“I don’t blame them”, Erin told her, earning a look of disbelief, “I was already seen as suspicious when my mother was taken to the Pits. This only convinced them further that I was strange and possibly dangerous, and not to be trusted. So…”

“Still”, Holtzmann argued back at once, shaking her head, “they can’t blame you for what your parents did. If they even did anything, we know people get send to the Pits for the smallest reasons, or no reason at all when the Lord Ruler needs fresh slaves to work there.”

“Holtzmann”, Erin gasped, shocked by this talk – if the wrong sort of people heard it, Holtzmann would end up in the Pits herself faster than she could say she hadn’t meant it, “that’s rebel talk!”

“Eh”, Holtzmann shrugged, clearly not all too worried at the thought, “we rob nobles for a living, if we ever get caught, that’ll be reason enough to send us to the Pits. Not to mention the Allomancer thing.”

“Anyway”, Patty interrupted, before the talk could veer even further off topic, “Erin, as Holtzy said, skaa are a superstitious lot. None of what happened is your fault and you did nothing wrong. And they had no right to rat you out to North like that, what a despicable thing to do.”

“At least we now know though where it came from”, Abby pointed out, making them all nod, “so we don’t have to worry about the leak any longer. And once we took care of Rowan, his skaa might end up in another town, then we have nothing to worry about anymore at all.”

“So… you guys just… are fine with this?” Erin wanted to know, surprised – she had been halfway sure that the crew would cry out about how she was a monster, too, not a full human, like the skaa in the hovels had after the night she had spent unharmed in the mists, “I thought you’d… I don’t know, not want me around anymore…”

“Whaaaat”, Holtzmann let out, eyes going wide, her tone and the look on her face making Erin smile a bit again, “Erin, Sweetheart, no offense but that’s dumb. You did nothing wrong, it’s not your fault that the other skaa at those fields were a bunch of jerks, and it does not make us want to get rid of you.”

Erin let out a relieved sigh in response, then moved to hug Holtzmann; and immediately, the younger woman wrapped both arms around her and held her close, reassuring her without words that nobody would want her to go and they all still had her back, no matter what.


	32. Chapter 32

For a few days, they tried to keep up with a plan which would put Rowan North not only out of business, but would ruin him and perhaps drive him out of the city, too; and even though Rebecca tried hard to help, they couldn’t come up with a foolproof idea, talking about a few of them in greater detail, but always finding a flaw here or there which made it too risky to pull off.

At least though, Holtzmann and Rebecca reasoned, they had time to come up with something; North perhaps knew what Erin looked like, after what one of the skaa had revealed to him, but he had no idea where to start searching, and the city was big, big enough to hide a single skaa well for months, perhaps even years.

Holtzmann kept reassuring Erin about this, kept telling her it would be okay, that they had time… and so, when Erin awoke in the middle of the night, she wasn’t sure at first why she had woken up, wondering if it had been some sort of unremembered nightmare which had torn her out of her slumber.

Then, belatedly, she realized that she felt the power of bronze burn within her, feeling bad as she remembered what the crew had told her about burning away her metals before going to sleep; clearly, she had forgotten this time – she blamed Holtzmann, for the blonde had started kissing her throat the moment they had made it back to their room and had distracted her with other, even nicer things afterwards – and for some reason, she had ended up burning bronze in her sleep.

And now, she felt a clear Allomantic pulse, and it did not come from within the warehouse.

“Holtz”, she whispered, shaking the snoring blonde, suddenly just knowing that this was nothing she could just ignore, “Holtz, wake up!”

To her relief, Holtz did so fairly quickly, Erin burning tin by the time Holtzmann opened her eyes, and able to see her to do so perfectly clear; she urgently told her to drink down some metals and to then burn bronze, adding that she felt Allomantic pulses at the confused    look Holtzmann gave her.

Not doubting her for a second, Holtzmann grabbed a vial from the ones she always kept on the nightstand and downed it, then burned bronze herself, frowning when she felt nothing; she figured that Erin wasn’t imagining things though, and got out of bed without telling her she felt nothing, quickly pulling on the first pieces of clothing she got her hands on.

Erin did the same, then downed a vial too, replenishing her metals; and just then, a loud thumping noise could be heard from the roof, and both women froze for a moment, exchanging a worried look afterwards.

“Here”, Holtzmann then whispered, keeping her voice as low as possible so she wouldn’t be heard even if whoever was up there on the roof had tin and was burning it, “take this. But only use it if you really have to, alright?”

She handed a small atium bead to Erin, the redhead nearly gasping, well aware of how valuable this was; she nodded and carefully hid it in her pocket, nodding again when Holtzmann told her that they should wake Abby and Patty.

“Damn, I wish Rebecca was here”, she then added, still keeping her voice as low as possible, “we could need any extra pair of fists. But we’re two Mistborn, so it’s gonna be fine.”

Bravely, Erin nodded again, even though she was scared now, not knowing who was out there and what they wanted; she figured it wouldn’t be a polite visit though, following Holtzmann as quietly as she could when the blonde led the way, waking Abby first, then Patty, both women looking grumpy at first, then concerned when Holtzmann told them what was going on.

Almost automatically, Abby started burning copper, to cover up their own Allomantic pulses; Erin had a moment to be confused at the fact that she still could feel Holtzmann burning pewter, then shrugged this off for now, telling herself that she had other things to worry about.

As if to confirm these thoughts, another thump came from the roof; and then, part of the ceiling broke away, and Erin took a step back, startled at the strength with which the man responsible had caused that hole, not looking as if it had taken him much of an effort.

“Thug”, Holtzmann commented, confirming Erin’s suspicion that the man was burning pewter; having heard the blonde, the man grinned as he dropped through the hole and landed with ease, two more following suit, and then, to the surprise of all four women, Rowan North himself landed behind his men, smirking at them as they gaped at him.

“So this is the hideout of the fabled Allomancer thieving crew”, he said, glancing around and making a face, “to be frank, I would have expected a bit more pomp and decoration. On the other hand, considering the reward I will get from the Lord Ruler for bringing not just one Allomancer to him, but four, well, I guess I won’t need to loot anything in compensation for my troubles.”

“You’ll have to capture us first”, Holtzmann pointed out, smiling; if she was afraid, she was hiding it surprisingly well, Erin thought to herself, knowing she wasn’t as good at hiding her fear, her palms sweaty and her eyes darting from one man to the next as she tried to figure out if they all were Thugs or if they had other skills which could end up dangerous for them.

“With my people here, that won’t be hard”, Rowan told them, clearly not worried about the outcome of the upcoming fight, “guys? Grab them.”

The men grinned in response, and Erin felt pewter pulse from the one who had ripped the roof open; the pulses of the other two were different though, and she quickly figured out that it was steel – just in time to react when they made use of their power and fired coins at the group, her own steel flaring as she Pushed back against the metal.

The men weighed more than she did, so she ended up nearly losing her footing as her Push met the resistance of theirs; thankfully though, Holtzmann had realized what was happening and added her power to Erin’s, and the combined force of their steel Pushing was enough to throw the coins back at the guys, one of them managing to duck in time, the other yelling in pain and going down when they dug into his flesh.

The Thug let out a noise of anger at seeing his companion go down and moved to get close and personal with the women; Holtzmann was the one to meet him, burning pewter of her own, and while he was bigger and, thanks to his own pewter, stronger than her, as well, she was faster, ducking out of the way easily when he tried to punch her and kicking his leg as hard as she could, the snap of his bone loud enough to let Erin hear it and make her wince.

“The blonde’s Mistborn!” the one Coinshot still standing cried out, making Erin realize that, while Rowan might know she was an Allomancer, he had no idea that she was Mistborn, too; she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to reveal this yet, and so, didn’t let it show that she was burning pewter and tin as well, giving her best to look frightened as the Coinshot focused on her again.

“No Mistborn to help you now”, he snarled, pulling another fistful of coins from the pouch dangling from his belt; realizing that Pushing back against them would do no good, not with the man weighing more than she did, Erin decided to try another strategy, hoping that they didn’t have someone would could detect pulses the way she did as she started burning pewter.

She waited until the last possible moment… and when he raised his fist to throw the coins at her, she shot to the left, to the table they normally used for breakfast, using pewter to be fast enough as she threw it over and used it for cover, hearing the low _toc toc toc_ as the coins hid the wood.

Even through the wood, she could feel the coins, the nails in the wood, and used her own steel to Push against them as hard as she could, the table shooting away from her and towards the Coinshot, the man just having time for a surprised yelp before the table slammed into his body.

This left only the Thug who was fighting Holtzmann on his feet, and Rowan himself; the Thug had managed to land a few hits, Erin could tell, blood trickling down Holtzmann’s face and staining her shirt at her side, but she didn’t let those injuries stop her, pewter keeping her on her feet as she kept battling the man.

He was slowing down, Erin could tell, not sure if he was running out of pewter or if there was another reason; she could feel Soothing pulses from Patty, and figured that she was using her powers on the Thug, but before she could move to help Holtzmann, Rowan snarled and downed a vial, and Erin froze as she felt the mix of metals pulse within him.

She almost called out to Holtzmann that Rowan was Mistborn, too, that they had to be careful but held the words back in the last moment, not wanting him to realize that she knew already; after all, the vial could have had contained just one metal, and if he knew that she could detect his pulses, despite Abby burning copper, he’d know more than she wanted him to.

“You put up a good fight”, he snarled, clenching his fists, “but now, it’s time to end this.”

Erin set her jaw in response and defiantly held his gaze, something no skaa ever had dared to do before to him; he let out a low growl and then charged, and Erin moved to meet him, suddenly knowing that this was it, that this fight would decide her future… and she was determined to win.


	33. Chapter 33

Erin acted fast, Pulling the coins from the table and firing them towards the lord, but he moved out of the way with ease, ducking surprisingly gracefully; this quickly let her figure out that he was burning pewter, and the strange extra pulse she felt had to be atium, then, a theory she confirmed by trying to land a more or less clumsy punch, and he ducked out of the way with ease, laughing at her as she stumbled at the missed hit, unaware that she was not quite as off-balance as it seemed.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Holtzmann was still fighting the Thug, but couldn’t move to help, not with Rowan out for her blood; with an ugly snarl on his face, he pulled a knife from the sheathe on his belt, and she was dismayed to realize that the blade was made of glass, that there was no metal anywhere at the knife she could use against him.

“You fight well, for a skaa”, he told her, the knife glinting dangerously, “considering you were never trained. But I’m a nobleman, I _was_ trained. Just give up now and let me take you to the Lord Ruler, and your friends will be allowed to live.”

“You’re a nobleman”, Erin threw his own words back in his face, “you lie. You all do. I’ll kill you, like I killed Hudson.”

Bringing this up so callously had the effect she had been hoping for, as he growled again, anger flashing in his eyes; and even though she knew she increased the danger for herself, she Rioted his anger, wanting him to get furious, knowing that fury would also make him reckless.

It worked, better than she had expected, as he let out an almost animalistic roar and charged, raising the knife, clearly planning to plunge it into her throat or chest, all ideas of taking her to the Lord Ruler forgotten.

Every instinct Erin had screamed at her to move aside, to use pewter for speed and get out of the way; she stood her ground though, not moving an inch… and seconds before he was close enough to attack, she started burning atium, his shadow two steps ahead of him, showing her what he would do.

He swung the knife down, and now she did burn pewter, and with the strength it gave her, she caught his arm.

Erin gave him a second to gape at her, then her knee shot up and nailed him in the stomach, his breath leaving him with an audible _whoof_ noise, pewter making the kick harder than it would have been otherwise, only her grip on his arm keeping him from going down.

Not willing to give him a chance to recover, Erin kicked him again, and again; only at the third kick, she let go of him, and sent him flying, a pained groan coming from him as he hit the ground, the knife falling from his fingers and clattering to the floor.

Grunting, he rolled over, but she knew he would before he did so, thanks to his atium shadow; and so, she moved faster than he did, her fingers closing around the knife’s hilt a second before he could grab it again.

“You can’t kill me”, he gasped, still struggling to get air into his lungs after the hits he had taken, “people know I came here to capture you. They will come looking for you.”

“You’re lying”, Erin coldly replied, hearing how a body hit the ground behind her, but not daring to look, telling herself it just had to be the Thug, it had to be, surely, Holtzmann had won, knowing that looking away from the man just for a second would be the biggest mistake she could make at this point, “you were too keen on bringing surprise Allomancers to the Lord Ruler. You didn’t tell anyone that you’re coming here.”

She could see it in his eyes that she was right, that nobody knew he had come to this place tonight, nobody except the men he had brought along; and those men had been taken care of, Erin told herself, motionless on the ground, no one left to help him.

She could see this truth in his eyes, and she saw his fear, and this time, she gave in to her instinct and hit him with the hardest Rioting she managed, increasing his fear a thousandfold, oddly amazed by how his hair turned white as his eyes went wide and he started crying.

“Oh wow”, Patty commented behind her, sounding quite stunned, “remind me to never piss you off, Erin.”

Turning to look at her, Erin could only shrug, suddenly feeling tired; she felt bad for what she had done when she heard Rowan start babbling incoherently behind her, suddenly just knowing that he wouldn’t recover any time soon, perhaps never, but then, she reminded herself of what he had been planning to do to her, to her friends and to the woman she loved, and she steeled herself against the guilt.

Now that she had turned away from him, she could see that the body which had hit the ground indeed had been his pewter Thug; Holtzmann was still bleeding, but standing upright, and even managed a smile as her eyes met Erin’s, neither woman glancing at Rowan as he sobbed pitifully.

“You’re hurt”, she said instead of letting Rowan’s noises bother her, taking a step closer to Holtzmann; the blonde shrugged, clearly not all too perturbed, and let her know it wasn’t bad, probably looked worse than it actually was.

“Also, pewter makes the pain easier to bear”, she added, then reached out to grasp Erin’s hand, “are you alright? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine”, Erin told her, extinguishing her metals as the danger was over; the men Rowan had brought along were coming back around, but they just had to take one look at their Lord to see that it was over, that they had lost, fear in their eyes when they looked at the women, clearly scared that they would end this way, too.

“Leave”, Holtzmann coldly told them, and they scrambled to their feet quickly, “leave town. Never tell anyone of this. Or we will find you, and you will end like him.”

They almost ran into each other in their hurry to get out of the way, having to carry the Coinshot who had been hit by his own coins along; and once they were gone, Holtzmann grabbed Rowan and dragged him to the door, using the strength pewter still gave her, Erin watching how she practically tossed him out into the street.

“Guess we have nothing to worry about from him anymore”, she commented, wiping her hands as if touching him made her feel dirty; she shut the door, cutting off his crying, the other three women nodding as they knew she was right, Holtzmann smiling for a moment – before she moved back to where Erin was still standing, pulled her close and kissed her, wordlessly showing her that what had happened had changed nothing between them.


	34. Chapter 34

“Okay, now it does hurt”, Holtzmann complained a bit later, flat on her back now with a cloth beneath her so she wouldn’t bleed onto the bed, “maybe I should start burning pewter again until you’re done.”

“No”, Erin said strictly, “I don’t want to mess this up and make it worse, and if you can’t feel the pain increase, you won’t be able to tell me.”

“Alriiiight”, Holtzmann sighed, then winced as Erin went to cleaning the wound in her side; thankfully, it wasn’t so deep that it would have needed stitches, and neither was the cut close to her eyebrow, Erin making sure to clean both injuries thoroughly before she as gently and carefully bandaged them, making sure no dirt would get into the wounds and cause a nasty infection.

“There we go”, she said as she finished, once she was satisfied with her work, “I’m not very good at this, but it should do.”

“Eh, looks fine to me”, Holtzmann gave back, making Erin smile a bit, “thank you Sweetheart, that would have been difficult to do on my own.”

“Nothing to thank me for”, Erin reassured her, the blonde smiling as well in response, “I have to thank you, for… not holding what I did to Rowan against me. It might have been more merciful to kill him, instead I made him a gibbering idiot…”

“Eh”, Holtzmann let out again, shrugging, earning a look of mild surprise from the redhead, “what he would have done to us would’ve been worse. And we had to do something about him anyway, we couldn’t just have let him walk away with his guys.”

“Good point”, Erin had to admit, glad that what she had done hadn’t scared Holtzmann off, “but I’m still glad it didn’t frighten you into… leaving me. I’ve never been as happy as I am here, with you, and… I don’t want to lose this.”

“You won’t”, Holtzmann reassured her, grasping her hand and giving it a tender squeeze, “because you mean a lot to me, and it makes me very happy too that you’re with us. Never would have thought I’d find love when we went to hit Hudson’s mansion.”

“I love you”, Erin blurted out before she even fully realized what she’d been about to say; it was the first time in her life she said these words to anyone, and she froze as she realized what she had said, Holtzmann staring back at her wide-eyed, clearly not having expected this at all. 

“I love you, too”, she then said, before Erin had the chance to say something, “I’ve never… had someone in my life before who meant as much to me as you.”

“Neither have I”, Erin told her, swallowing heavily, “I’m very glad we… found each other. If it hadn’t been for you I’d be dead now and you’ve made my life so much better…”

Holtzmann gave her another smile, then pulled her close for a tender kiss; Erin kissed her back at once, wrapping both arms around her, mindful of her injuries though, not wanting to make them worse and ruin this wonderful moment.

“It’s amazing, you know”, Holtzmann mumbled once they had pulled apart again, “when I was a tiny little Holtzmann, I thought I’d never have a family. Then Rebecca found me, and took care of me, and was… like a mother to me, even though she’d roll her eyes at me if I told her that. Then, I met Abby and Patty, and we became a crew, and it was like having a real kind of family… And I love them, all three of them, but not like… not in the romantic way. I thought maybe I wouldn’t find that, and that I should be happy with what I had, but then, there was you, and now… it feels as if now, I have all I could ever have wanted.”

“I had no one”, Erin told her, making her grimace as she moved one hand to gently rub her back, “especially not after my mother was taken to the Pits. But then you rescued me, saved my life, and took me with you, when you just could have dropped me off in the woods… and now, you make me so happy. I can’t ever thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to thank me”, Holtzmann reassured her, kissing her again afterwards; and then, they laid down side by side, Erin carefully snuggling up to the blonde, letting out a content sigh when Holtzmann started rubbing her back again.

“So Rebecca took you in when you were a child?” Erin broke the comfortable silence after a while, craning her neck a bit so she could look Holtzmann in the face, “how did that happen? Did your powers show when you were so young?”

“Yeah”, Holtzmann gave back, surprising her quite a bit, as it didn’t happen often that people Snapped at such a young age, their powers usually manifesting during puberty or even later, “and not only that, but we’re related.”

“What!” Erin squeaked, making the blonde snicker at her startled reaction, “you’re related to her? How?”

“She’s my aunt”, Holtzmann let her know, Erin gaping at her in response, not having expected this the slightest, “her brother was my father. My mother was skaa, like yours, but apparently, he did the right thing and told her I exist shortly before he died. That’s what she told me, I never knew the man.”

“Wow”, Erin said, still quite stunned, but now that she knew, she could see the resemblance, the fact that Holtzmann and Rebecca had the same jawline, “I never would have guessed. You’re lucky he told her before he died, so you could grow up in safety…”

“Pretty much, yeah”, Holtzmann agreed, momentarily feeling bad for Erin as she hadn’t been so lucky, and then even hadn’t had the support of her fellow skaa, “even though I’m probably responsible for a few premature grey hairs she got. I was a handful when I was little and learning how to use my powers, and she’s not Mistborn, she can only burn one metal, so she couldn’t help much with the others.”

Momentarily, Erin wondered which metal the elder woman could burn, then shrugged it off, figuring she’d find out sooner or later; and so, instead of asking, she just smiled, then kissed Holtzmann again, and for a while, they all forgot about the evening’s excitement and the fight they had gone through as they fully focused on each other.

* * *

After all the noise of the fight, all four women knew that they couldn’t stay at the warehouse much longer; and so, after they had gotten some proper rest, they started packing up their things early in the next morning, none of them truly surprised when Rebecca showed up too, with Kevin in tow, the man once again smiling dimly to himself as he watched the women work.

“You know, even when you’re storing up your smarts for an emergency, you could help pack”, Patty berated him, rolling her eyes when he just smiled at her, most of his mind apparently going into his jewellery, making Erin wonder if he could actually overdo that and forget how to breathe or something equally dangerous.

“So, interesting news”, Rebecca said, making them all look at her, “apparently, Lord North was found wandering the streets yesterday night, babbling incoherently about being afraid, with his hair having mysteriously gone white. I imagine the four of you have something to do with this?”

“It was me”, Erin said, before any of the others could answer; she still found it difficult to read the woman, and wasn’t sure what she thought of Rowan’s fate, figuring that she might as well take all the blame, just in case Rebecca was mad about it and was looking for someone to punish.

“I did this to him”, she added when Rebecca raised an eyebrow at her, “he came here yesterday, with some Allomancers, and we fought. And then I… I Rioted his fear, as much as I could, and this is how he ended up.”

“Impressive”, Rebecca told her, not quite the reaction Erin had been expecting, Holtzmann smirking as she had been quite sure that this was exactly the reaction her girlfriend would get, “especially considering that you haven’t been aware of your powers for very long. Did you know this would happen?”

“No”, Erin admitted, “I wasn’t sure what exactly was going to happen, I just… did it. It’s as if  I just knew that it would work, and end the threat of him so…”

“I think Erin has some sort of natural skill we don’t have”, Holtzmann threw in, making Rebecca look at her curiously, “she woke up because she’d started burning bronze in her sleep and noticed the Allomantic pulses of Rowan and his guys. And when I tried, too, I felt nothing.”

“How strange”, Rebecca commented, looking at Erin intently, as if she could figure out what was going on by just staring hard enough, “I’ve heard of this before, of Mistborn being able to pierce copperclouds, but thought it is just a rumour, brought up by the Lord Ruler to frighten nobility with the thought he might know what they are doing if they have someone around to burn copper.”

“I don’t even know how I did it”, Erin mumbled, somewhat amazed at this revelation – she didn’t know much about copperclouds, and hearing that they technically shouldn’t be able to be pierced like she had was new knowledge, making her wonder if there were other things she could do which other Mistborn weren’t capable of.

“It just… happened”, she added, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the scrutinizing look Rebecca was giving her, “just like when I knew to riot his fear to stop him.”

“We’ll have to do a few tests, once your things have been moved”, Rebecca stated, having opened her home to the group for the time being, until they could find another hideout; and then, she made Erin gape at her yet again as she declared she would help, and picked up one of the heaviest boxes without any apparent effort.

“What”, she said as she noticed the way Erin was staring at her, “Jillian never told you I burn pewter?”

“Um”, was all Erin could let out, and to her amazement, Rebecca gave her a brief, but genuine smile; then, she carried the box outside, and that snapped Erin out of her surprise, the redhead grabbing a box of her own and hurrying after her, looking forward to what this new part of her life would bring.


	35. Chapter 35

“Wow”, Erin said quite a while later, looking around in amazement; apparently very aware of how close Holtzmann and Erin were, Rebecca had given them one of the bigger guest rooms, with a bed large enough so they could both sleep comfortably, “this is amazing! The bed looks so soft…”

“Oh it doesn’t just look soft, it is soft”, Holtzmann told her, dropping down onto the bed for emphasis, Erin shaking her head at the fact that she was doing so in her street clothes, “you’ll feel as if you’re sleeping on a cloud.”

“Don’t lie on it in the clothes you’ve worn all day”, Erin scolded, grasping her hand and trying to pull her up, only for Holtzmann to burn pewter and use the extra strength to pull Erin down on top of her; the redhead squealed, then giggled as she landed on Holtzmann, prompting the younger woman to grin up her happily.

“Now we’re both in bed with the clothes we have worn all day”, she said, wrapping both arms around her and moving one hand to play with her hair, “too bad. Fortunately, Kevin can do the laundry even when he’s making himself dumb.”

“Aw, poor Kevin”, Erin showed sympathy, making Holtzmann grin again and shrug; then, the blonde pulled her down for a gentle kiss, said kiss quickly growing more heated, Erin unable to hold back a low moan when she felt Holtzmann’s hand slide beneath her shirt.

“You know”, Holtzmann mumbled as they had pulled apart again, hand still beneath the other woman’s shirt, “perhaps, you made a good point, and we should take these clothes off.”

Erin could feel her cheeks heat up, and for a moment, almost protested, not sure it would be appropriate to do this in Rebecca’s house; then, she realized that Rebecca had given them a guestroom with a bed for two and certainly knew what they would get up to in said bed, smiling as she sat up in response so that she straddled Holtzmann, the blonde gulping audibly when Erin pulled her shirt over her head.

“Like this?” she asked innocently, dropping the shirt to the ground; Holtzmann could only nod, Erin smiling at her wide-eyed, but appreciative look – before she bent down to kiss her again, all qualms about doing this in this room and this bed forgotten as she felt Holtzmann’s hands on her body again.

* * *

Afterwards, they laid snuggling in bed for a while, enjoying the softness of said bed and the feeling of their bodies so close to each other; and just when they were close to drifting off into sleep, a knock came from the door, Erin squealing when it opened moments later, Holtzmann reacting fast and pulling the blanket over both of them to cover them up.

“Hello”, Kevin said as he poked his head into the room, with his usual dim smile, signalling that he was storing up intelligence again, “Lady Gorin wants to speak to you in the library. Oh, are you cold? All covered with the blanket? I can show you how to make a fire in the fireplace.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay”, Holtzmann hurriedly reassured him, not liking the thought of Kevin in this dumb state handling anything flammable, “we’ll be there in a minute, alright? You can tell her that, but don’t tell her we were cold.”

“Okay”, Kevin replied with another smile, then retreated; shaking her head, Holtzmann mumbled something about how he would have burned the house down if he had tried to build a fire while she tossed the blanket aside again and got out of bed, belatedly noticing that Erin was eying her quite unabashedly as she bent down to pick up her clothes.

“Like what you see?” she asked teasingly, grinning when Erin flushed visibly; despite being embarrassed at how she had gotten caught staring though, Erin nodded and smiled as well, getting out of bed and moving to collect her own clothes, aware that Holtzmann was watching her too as she did so.

It was amazing, she thought to herself as she pulled her clothing on, how much she had changed ever since that fateful night back at Hudson’s mansion; she remembered how shy she had been, how constantly afraid that she might say or do something wrong and make Holtzmann and the others mad at her, and here she was now, in a large, luxurious mansion, with the woman she loved and people she called her friends, something she never had known before.

“Rebecca’s probably gonna tell us how we have to lie low for a while again”, Holtzmann said, unaware of the thought running through Erin’s head, “but as long as she won’t have us masquerading as her servants, I’m fine with that. And with North gone, at least one thing we had to worry about is gone, too.”

“Yes”, Erin nodded, “and whatever else might come up, I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it.”

“Look at you”, Holtzmann grinned, finishing getting dressed and stepping closer to wrap both arms around her, “all confident and secure. If we had had this talk a month ago, you would have sounded different.”

“All thanks to you”, Erin told her, smiling as she returned the embrace, “if it hadn’t been for you, my life never would have changed so much to the better, so… thank you.”

“Nothing to thank me for”, Holtzmann reassured her, pulling her close for a gentle kiss; and then, they left the room to meet Rebecca, and as they walked through the mansion to the library, Erin found herself smiling, suddenly just knowing that, no matter what the future might throw at them, they would be fine, as long as they stuck together.

She still didn’t know where her strange talent to feel pulses even through a cloud of copper had come from, and she wondered if she’d ever find out; she was determined to make good use of this talent though, and to find out if there were other things she could do, her smile widening as she realized what this full acceptance of her powers meant.

She was Mistborn, and from this day onwards, she’d fully embrace her powers – and she couldn’t wait to find out what other secrets these powers might hold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done :D Thank you all for reading - new one will be posted here soon ;)


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